School leaders across the UK are gearing up to revolutionise
their home-to-school transport provision by rolling out digital
innovations which deliver student safeguarding and route
optimisation as part of a wider vision for a safer, greener,
smarter school run.
This is a central finding of a nationally representative survey
of 250 school leaders, conducted by school transport technology
specialist Kura. Some 38% of schools and 48% of Multi Academy
Trusts reported that they plan to invest in upgrading technology
across all areas, including school transport, within the next
five years.
The school run contributes to as much as a quarter of rush hour
traffic, due to the overuse of low occupancy cars instead of
alternative transport options. This results in a significant
amount of damaging exhaust emissions being released into the air
close to schools which adversely impacts air quality. Estimates
from Unicef suggest that up to two-thirds of the toxic air
particulates children breathe is during school hours, which can
impair both health and cognitive development over time.
According to Kura’s Green Guide one of the areas of concern
resulting in extra car use is worries around pupil safeguarding,
as 43% of parents stated that they would find it reassuring to
know exactly when their child arrived and left school. Despite
this only 31.2% of schools currently use technology to safeguard
pupils on the school run, with a further 32.4% still reliant on
paper registers for this critical process.
Additionally, just 22.8% of schools have adopted technology to
manage school transport over the last decade despite technology
being embraced in other areas of school management.
Encouragingly, however, this is set to change with 57.6% of
schools stating their intention to invest in technological
advancement to improve the administration side of the school run.
As just one 49-seater school coach can be expected to replace an
average 31 cars on the roads, this will begin to ease the amount
of congestion and toxic fumes from around the school gates.
Therefore, the schools that plan to invest in technology will
place themselves ahead of the curve along with nearly a third of
schools (31.2%) that have already invested in measures to improve
their carbon footprint.
Looking further into the future, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are
predicted to bring the next major step-change in school
transport, as expressed by nearly half (45.2%) of respondents.
However, indications suggest that the technology must become both
more affordable and accessible to be a viable option for all.
One in five (21.6%) of schools currently have no plans to invest
in cleaner, greener vehicles such as electric buses due to cost
concerns, and a further 12.4% cannot invest due to a lack of
access to charging facilities.
Godfrey Ryan, CEO of Kura, said: “Lockdown had stalled a lot of
the progression towards encouraging greener alternatives to
school transport, as parents remained concerned over their
child’s exposure to the virus. However, more than half of the
parents we surveyed report that they would like their child’s
school to be as green and environmentally friendly as possible,
and this view is shared by an equal proportion of students.
“We have seen a growing trend in schools wanting to be more
proactive in combatting the environmental danger of the school
run, with initiatives such as no car zones being implemented by
schools and encouraging other transport options such as biking
and walking.
“However, these alternatives can be both unsafe and impractical
for children, especially those who live a significant distance
away from school. It is therefore the perfect time for schools to
begin investing in transport technology to tackle these mounting
issues that are projected to only worsen if they are not
addressed. Modern problems require modern solutions, and school
travel is no different.”
For more information on Kura and the research findings from the
Tech and School Transport report, please visit
https://ridekura.com/school-transport-report-21/
