North Tyneside Council’s Sustainable Transport team has responsibility for encouraging behaviour change in everyday travel to schools, businesses and residential areas. Activity includes providing and promoting realistic sustainable travel opportunities for all.
The team aims to reduce single-occupancy car use, and the Go Smarter project concentrates particularly on keeping cars away from the school gates, meaning safer routes to school and healthier lives for pupils, families, and residents. As well as aiming to change travel behaviour, it can involve physical changes to streets near schools to encourage more sustainable travel.
The benefits of the scheme include:
- Safer journeys to school
- Fewer cars at the school gates
- Improved mental and physical health
- Cleaner air near school
- Help to address climate change
Following completion of an annual travel survey, schools are eligible for engagement with the programme.
The team provide several services, including:
- Assemblies and class sessions
- Road safety awareness
- Car-free days
- ‘Park and Stride’ schemes
- Assessment of routes to school
- School Council or Eco-Team sessions
- School travel maps
- Anti-idling promotion
For more information about the scheme, please email gosmarter@northtyneside.gov.uk or follow us on twitter @GoSmarterNT.
