Active travel to and from Castel Primary School is said to have increased by 5%, based on data collected just weeks after it started its School Street trial.
The trial started in April, with roads near the school closed to through traffic at drop off and pick up times.
The Health Improvement Commission said its recent assessment of active travel at all island schools, showed a 5% increase at Castel Primary in May, compared to a year ago.
“This demonstrates that when schools can introduce practical, sustainable initiatives that make active travel safer and more accessible, it can have a real impact on families, empowering them to make a healthier choice,” said Amy Woollaston, Active Travel Officer.
“The more attractive the active option becomes, the more likely it is that walking, wheeling and cycling will become the norm for children and their journeys to school.”
Active travel at all primary schools held steady at 51% this spring compared to last May, – but cycling to and from lessons rose from 9% to 11% in the same time frame.
The Health Improvement Commission said that while overall trends remained steady, there were notable increases in active travel at some schools that have recently introduced initiatives to encourage walking, wheeling and cycling.
This includes at Vale Primary and La Houguette Primary, which run weekly walking buses during the spring and summer months, where increases in active travel of 12% and 5% were reported compared to last autumn.
Secondary schools were assessed slightly earlier than primary schools this year to ensure the data captured all pupils before the eldest went on study leave.
Active travel at the High Schools and Sixth Form Centre had dropped however, from 38% to 36% in a year.
Les Beaucamps and St Sampson’s High schools are both piloting the School Street initiative, which Ms Woollaston hopes will encourage families to consider alternatives to driving in the mornings.
“This is very encouraging. The healthiest way to travel is to walk, wheel or cycle, but even taking the bus brings health benefits over single-car journeys because it reduces traffic and pollution around schools.”
The recent surveys also noted e-bikes and pushbikes separately for the first time.
Across all schools taking part, including the private colleges and the Sixth Form Centre, 24% of active travel journeys were made by e-bike, compared to 26% of journeys made by pushbike.
Ms Wollaston thinks this will change as e-bikes become more prevalent.
“At this stage there is no trend to draw conclusions from, as this is the first year the question has been asked, but it is something worth monitoring. Data gathered by the Better Journeys Project already shows an increase in adults using e-bikes to commute to work. It could be that, as adults upgrade their bikes, older e-bikes may increasingly be passed on to teenagers, in much the same way mobile phones often are.”
