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SCOTTISH SCHOOL TRAVEL ADVISORY GROUP REPORT
Foreword
We must take seriously the impact of the school travel choices that we make. Research has shown that in the UK as a whole, one in five cars on the road at 8.50 a.m. is taking children to school. As well as the need to ease congestion on our roads, there are strong safety, health and environmental reasons for reducing the numbers of cars on the "school run".
The Scottish Executive's response to this was to create the Scottish School Travel Advisory Group (SSTAG) with a wide membership, bringing together expertise from the health, education and transport arenas. SSTAG's brief was to consider the issues and identify practical means of more effectively managing school travel and encouraging as many children as possible to walk, cycle or take public transport to school.
The report sets out the Group's conclusions and will be welcomed by everyone with an interest in school travel or reducing congestion, as well as everyone wishing to promote sustainable, physically active and environmentally friendly travel modes. We thank the members of the Group for their work.
We are delighted to respond to this report on behalf of the Executive by providing funding for the implementation of the report's central recommendation - the appointment of school travel co-ordinators within Scottish local authorities. These co-ordinators will be pivotal to the achievement of the report's other recommendations and should enable all agencies and individuals with a responsibility for young people to work together to develop and fund high quality school travel schemes that are both effective and safe.
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Lewis Macdonald
Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning
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Nicol Stephen
Deputy Minister for Education & Young People
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Mary Mulligan
Deputy Minister for Health & Community Care
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