Healthy streets access ‘vital’

Healthy Streets officers are making great strides towards a car-free school run by supporting the delivery of School Streets across London, according to Sustrans.

TfL and Sustrans have been working in partnership with local authorities since 2019 to deliver the Healthy Streets Officers programme.

The programme focuses on helping children and families walk, wheel, scoot and cycle in 32 of the city’s 33 boroughs.

As part of this work, Healthy Streets officers help boroughs to organise School Streets.

School Streets tackle the congestion, poor air quality and road safety concerns that many schools experience by restricting motor traffic at the school gates for a short period of time, generally at drop-off and pick-up times.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 76 School Streets in London. It is now estimated there are 456. An additional 107 have been planned or confirmed, bringing the total number to 563. Sustrans says Healthy Streets Officers have supported the implementation of over half these schemes, approximately 300.