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Smarter travel in schools could beat school run chaos

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The findings of report into cutting down on ‘school run’ traffic were today unveiled in Glasgow at a national
two-day conference on supporting sustainable school travel.

Louise Smith, Senior Consultant at MVA Consultancy, presented the findings of her study into the success of school travel plans at the Modeshift – Annual School Travel Plan Conference today (26 November) at the Crown Plaza Hotel.

The report investigates factors affecting the success of school travel plans and their impact on encouraging a shift away from the car towards sustainable modes of transport for the school run.  

Louise – who carried out the detailed study as part of her MSc in Transport Planning and Engineering, said: “The aim of the project was to create an overall understanding of how the success of school travel plans can be influenced, potential barriers to the successful implementation and just how much of a difference they can make.

“The study uses a multi-method approach based on research carried out at both primary and secondary schools across London.

“The findings suggest that once established for a few years, school travel plans can be successful if effective measures are developed which take into account the characteristics of the local area.

“Their success is not only dependent on the measures and targets within it and the quality and management of it, but also upon the characteristics of the households in which the pupils live, size of the school catchment area and the distance between pupils’ homes and the school.”

Conrad Haigh, director of smarter travel at MVA Consultancy, added: “MVA’s innovative Smarter Travel division is playing an increasingly important role in shaping the future of transport planning in the UK, and Louise’s report demonstrates how smarter travel solutions such as school travel plans can provide and effective, practical and efficient solution to today's transport challenges.”

Information for Editors:

Industry-leader MVA Consultancy provides advice on transport and other policy areas, to central, regional and local government, agencies, developers, operators and financiers

 A diverse group of results-oriented people, we are part of a 500-strong team worldwide. Through client business planning, customer research and strategy development we create solutions that work for real people in the real world.

Smarter travel at MVA

MVA is one of the few consultancies to have a dedicated Smarter Travel Directorate with extensive experience in undertaking smarter choices projects and the development of travel planning measures.

The team has been involved in a number of major PTP schemes including leading the roll out of PTP in London – the UK’s largest application of PTP to date.

For further information please contact:

Emma O'Sullivan on 01483 742925
or email eosullivan@mvaconsultancy.com

or

Sarah White on 01483 742975
or email swhite@mvaconsultancy.com

26 November 2009