School streets case studies from Southampton - how using temporary street closures and trial interventions can help to gain support for permanent changes to improve our school environments

Abstract

Streets around our schools are dominated by cars at the start and end of the school day. In Southampton (UK), this has led to high levels of air pollution, unsafe environments for children and parents, and unpleasant conditions for walking, cycling and other social activities. Southampton City Council (SCC), with the support of its major partners, the University of Southampton, Sustrans, and Balfour Beatty, have worked in partnership with local pupils, teachers and residents to transform these unpleasant environments through a combination of street closures, other infrastructure measures, and behavioural change projects. These approaches place the needs and preferences of the local community, and in particular children and young people, at the heart of identifying what steps need to be taken to create safer, cleaner, and more pleasant school environments, which encourage more families to walk, cycle or scoot to school. In our paper, three case studies that explore a range of measures will be presented (see below). These range from one-day street closures, 6-week trials using temporary street furniture, through to ongoing (semi-permanent) physical traffic restrictions. Using these examples, we will describe the lessons learned from adopting each approach, the impact they have had on levels of active travel and changes in driver behaviour at the school gates, and the wider outcomes on the local community and environment, as well as recommendations for other councils and authorities considering this approach.

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ORCID for Jonathan Preston: orcid.org/0000-0002-6866-049X

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