Safe Routes to Schools

WQ.307/2021

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. JOHN

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 21st JUNE 2021 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 28th JUNE 2021

Question

Will the Minister advise –

1. what priority is being given to the Safer Routes to Schools' initiative within his portfolio;
2. how the prioritisation of schools for review within this initiative has been determined;
3. what priority, if any, is given to schools whose teachers currently park their vehicles in active playgrounds; and
4. when he expects to complete Safe Routes to Schools for both primary schools and for secondary schools?

Answer

1. Creating safer routes to school remains one of the highest priorities in my portfolio and I am keen that we put children at the forefront of our considerations when introducing improvements to our infrastructure.

The sustainable transport policy, which has been adopted by the states assembly, puts the need of children at the top of the Jersey mobility hierarchy and we are continuing to develop new policies and projects as quickly as resources allow.

2. The Department has limited resources for undertaking reviews of schools and their safer routes requirements, and they must necessarily be prioritised accordingly. To guide our investment programme we undertake travel planning initiatives with the schools to objectively identify the best ways Government can help with encouraging healthy and active travel. There is little point investing in, say, expensive infrastructure when simple things like introducing a lollipop person or encouraging car sharing might be the most practical and effective alternatives.

Thus projects are targeted in structured and prioritised manner where there is an evidenced need based upon demand (actual and unmet) and road safety data, rather than merely react to the calls of lobbyists without closely examining the evidence.

(Note - all requested for road safety improvements are put through a structure assessment process to by experienced and qualified road safety specialists, where a benefit might be achieved any scheme identified from this process is incorporated into the government's ongoing highway improvement programme, depending upon the circumstances in some instances it is more appropriate to reefer the request to enforcement agencies or the Road Safety Panel for inclusion in their educational campaigns).

Due to the Departure of key staff prior to the STP Strong start the travel planning capability of the Department had waned, and many existing school travel plans had become dated. Under my stewardship I have worked to reenergise this initiative as quickly as possible so we can fulfil our commitment to put children first. Unfortunately, this had stalled during the pandemic but we are now looking to get back on track.

I have requested that the prioritisation of the travel planning initiatives takes place with schools in the St Saviours and St Helier area, as this is where we know the traffic problems are most acute. Once this is completed, it is our aim to have a rolling programme of updating all the school travel plans as quickly as resources allow.

3. Teachers and school visitors have their own particular needs, on-site parking arrangements are a matter for individual schools. IHE work using travel planning to support schools and students to make active journeys through the identification of barriers to travel and work to mitigate them, other components include events to encourage active travel.
4. Safer routes to school is an ongoing journey rather than a destination, we are looking to strive for continual improvement to make school travel as safe as it can possibly be. In the future as travel modes change and new technology changes the way that education is delivered, it is likely that further improvements can be made.

By way of illustration, I list below a sample of the types of works completed, in hand, and under development:

Safer Routes to School

The Government has been running a programme of works to create safer routes to schools for a number of years, to encourage walking and where appropriate cycling to school, to reduce school congestion and improve student health.

The table below identifies the projects that have been completed:

An extensive process has recently been undertaken to review speed limits outside of Schools in St Helier and St Saviour and IHE have worked collaboratively with Comité des Connétable s on this.

Works in hand

In November 2020, the Minister for Infrastructure published an Active Travel Update. This document provides information on the wide range of projects and schemes that have commenced or will be delivered in the near future. Actions are identified on improvements in cycling infrastructure; education, training and promotion; digital mobility; and policy initiatives. The relevant programmes of work are provided below and many of these includes elements of safety initiatives:

On the 7th December 2020 the Government published an update to the Sustainable Transport Policy (STP) with the States Greffe. This is available as Report R.137/2020 on the States Assembly website and this document outlines progress to date on the STP and the impact of Covid-19 on this area of Government work.

The nature of transport projects means there are multiple constraints to their delivery which affect the timescales. Examples include the need to define the project, need and develop viable options with stakeholders including other authorities and in some cases landowners. There can also be long lead in times for equipment supply and contractor availability.

The government plan has identified increased workload in this area and increase capability and capacity, this is not something which can be built rapidly. The specialist expertise required to manage the design and development of transport and road safety projects requires a long programme of development of local employees and may require some recruitment of specialised and experienced expertise.

Future schemes at feasibility

The programmes of work identified above constitute the forward delivery programme. In addition to these projects, there are a number of other workstreams emerging, with schemes being looked at in terms of feasibility and design.

The STP delivery team are also investigating the potential for schools to draw down on funding allocated in the Climate Emergency Fund for Sustainable Transport Infrastructure that will facilitate safe access to and from schools. This is a technically challenging and labour-intensive process as a suitable framework for schools to bid for funding will need to be identified. This is required to ensure that proposals are assessed in a fair and objective way so that value for money is delivered in terms of carbon reductions. Funding will also need to be granted in line with strict monitoring and performance targets to ensure funding is not absorbed into general school revenue budgets.

Delivery of the above will be in line with available departmental resources, as explained above. In addition, it is known that various parishes are planning and/or delivering schemes to promote safety near schools on their own roads within their own resources.