School Streets  designs are a rapidly embraced, low-cost intervention to reduce car use and pollution around schools during drop-off and pick-up times, enabling children to walk, cycle or scoot to school. They’re a key part of many UK councils’ COVID-19 plans to reclaim space for walking and cycling and have demonstrated measurable benefits that should inspire cities around the world.

In this guide we’ve put together an action-packed kit for how to turn a road outside your school into a safer, healthier, and more energetic public space. You’ll find step-by-step guides to submitting an application, engaging your community, and using the Open Streets resources.

Advocating for Safe School Streets: How Design Impacts Education

During the initial stage, it’s important to communicate clearly and engage with local residents about your plans to create an Open Street, especially in case their initial reaction is to object to losing the right to drive on the road. To counter this, you should offer in-person engagement events where you can address any concerns that may arise.

It’s also important to remind residents that school streets are not a ‘block off’ of roads, but rather a restriction on access to cars during the drop-off and pick-up time for children going to and from school. You can also encourage people to use the spaces to walk, cycle or scoot into school, or park and stride (drive to a nearby car park to leave their vehicle) if they do need to take a vehicle for a longer journey.