Fed up with congestion, Willoughby parents looked for a new approach to the school drop-off. Now it’s being deployed across the state.

In 2022, the Parents Committee of Willoughby Public School approached Willoughby City Council with a problem: during drop-off and pick-up times, the roads around their kids’ school became a congested mess.

It’s a problem faced by many educational institutions. 

At a school like Willoughby Public, just half of its students being picked up could mean finding space for 500 cars at the same time. 

Stretched between playground duty, lesson plans and marking homework, teachers are hard-pressed finding time to also be traffic managers. 

So the council, parents and teachers looked toward another solution. If a majority of students live in the local area (68 percent within a kilometre of schoolgrounds) is there a way to avoid driving altogether? 

What happened: Demanding all children walk to and from school wasn’t really a practical approach, so they were brought on board and asked to help design the routes they would eventually walk on.

Geography class: The first stage of the project involved the fifth grade of Willoughby Public. 

• Students experienced a shift in their geography lessons: instead of learning about weather and mountains, they were handed maps of the local area and asked to figure out the quickest way to get from home to school.

• After teachers and road safety officers weighed in, this assignment turned into four routes that students living in each part of Willoughby could follow to get to school. 

• Each one had signage installed along it to guide students, and council surveyed them for any obvious infrastructure repairs. 

Safety concerns: When asked whether parents had any safety concerns, Mayor Tanya Taylor told the Lorikeet that some parents would opt to walk with their children at first. 

“Until they're at that age where you want to give them a little bit more independence … then they're off doing it themselves, with their friends” she said.

Independent kids: Program director Nick Chapman told the Lorikeet that while parents were happy to avoid the morning traffic, they also thought it was a huge benefit to their kids.

“A number of the parents said … that walking and cycling to school helps kids develop this sense of independence”, he said. “They can do it with a mate, so it's good for improving their socializing confidence as well”.

Reducing traffic is just one motivation for the local council. They’re also keen to reduce local noise, and pollution from more cars on the road. While that impact might be minimal now, the model they have been developing has begun to be adopted across the state.

Plans for expansion: In the last year, Transport for NSW has put $500,000 of funding toward the Active Routes to School program, modelled on the program developed in Willoughby. Currently, it is being run in Randwick, Ryde and the Northern Beaches. 

Bigger picture: This funding comes as part of the larger Get NSW Active program, which has put $60 million towards infrastructure upgrades that improve pedestrian and cycling routes across NSW. This program aims to improve city planning and public health, but also contribute toward the government’s larger goal of reducing emissions statewide

While the lion's share of Australian emissions come from mining and energy, emissions from vehicles are not insignificant. The transport sector makes up around 20 percent of New South Wales total greenhouse gas emissions. 

That’s about 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. You’d need to plant more than half a billion trees to offset that. 

While a single school drop-off might only emit less than a kilo of carbon dioxide, these amounts add up across thousands of trips to thousands of schools. 

For some Australians, such as those living in rural areas, walking to school is simply not an option. Therefore, where people can avoid driving, the government is trying to give them every reason to do so. 

Growing local initiative: Willoughby has now set up a second program at Artarmon Public School, and Mayor Taylor told the Lorikeet there were plans for a third in Castle Cove.

Thumbnail: Willoughby City Council