As part of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 Dorset County Council has a duty to promote the use of sustainable travel to and from schools.

The most sustainable ways to travel are walking and cycling. Going by bus or car sharing are fairly good. Relatively short trips by car to school (parents or staff) are unsustainable and therefore one of the first target areas for this strategy.

The strategy has been developed in line with Government guidance: We have assessed transport needs, looked at the current infrastructure in place to support sustainable travel, prepared our strategy and started to promote what needs to be done to see more sustainable travel to school (and also for trips outside of the school day).

As we have developed this strategy it has become apparent that significant changes are needed to achieve sustainable travel:

• Central Government needs to acknowledge and act on policies that, however unintentionally, increase the distances travelled by car
• We need to build an accurate picture of travel within and beyond our area to allow us to develop policies that will make a real difference to the way we travel to school
• Parents need to start considering the 'Child Miles' involved when choosing a school

Work undertaken so far shows that:

• If you live close enough to your school you are far more likely to walk or cycle
• If buses are seen as attractive, convenient and affordable they will be used

The challenge now is to achieve a common understanding of where we are and where we need to be, from pupil level, up to central government.

The strategy, supporting documents and websites on the right hand side of this screen provide us with the tools to show the reasons behind the travel choices made for the school run. They then point to where the changes are required and how we can measure success.

"Another document to collect dust on a shelf?" We hope not. The websites and supporting documents show that we are committed to engaging all in this process and making the process itself an engaging and rewarding experience.

After all, there when it comes to achieving sustainability – it is not someone else's problem, it is ours / yours. The responsibility for change sits with us all.

The strategy, documents and websites are always open for review and good ideas – For further info, support or to discuss ideas please contact Andrew Combes.

(Strategy updated 31^st August each year).

• Sustainable Travel Co-ordinator
  Name: Andrew Combes
  Email: a.combes@dorsetcc.gov.uk
  Tel: 01823 432946
  Mobile: 075000 66352
  Full details for Andrew Combes