1. School travel planning an engineer will love
Lisa
This project has enabled Moonee Valley council to take a more strategic approach to encouraging active travel to school across our municipality.
I will talk about the context and outcomes of this work and Alice will discuss the methodology.

2. School travel in Moonee Valley
Need:
A more planned and coordinated approach to active travel program delivery
Better integration with capital works program
Opportunity:
Better Moves Around Schools program introduced 2011/12, this included support for school travel plans
Lisa
Council has always encouraged walking and cycling to school and did participate and lead a number of programs
Council asked - How could we better work with schools? adhoc approach was not as sufficient , regular request from schools, no process in place
Which school should be addressed first? and on what basis? There was no data available regarding school travel, except for data on 2 secondary schools that we had previously completed school travel plans for.
BMAS was introduced in 2011/2012 A program that brings schools and councils together to improve traffic, safety and parking management and encouraging walking, cycling and the use of public transport to and from schools.

3. School travel in Moonee Valley
Project Objectives:
Recommendations for school infrastructure improvements
A capital works list for future budgets
Audited walking and cycling routes and identified routes for each school
Lisa
We had the introduction of BMAS and Our Integrated transport strategy had actions due for completion that asked to investigate and identify the barriers that prevent students walking, cycling and catching public transport to encourage more children to walk and cycle to school
That’s where Urbantrans came in…..
Council engaged Urbantrans to
1. Identify safe walking/cycling routes to school and identify improvements of the urban design that surrounds them.
2. Identify current walking, cycling and public transport habits at each Moonee Valley school
Urban trans were to provide Council with
Survey report for each school surveyed
Audit report including opportunities to improve existing signage and infrastructure and a capital works list for future budgets with the view of providing
safe and accessible pedestrian facilities to accommodate all pedestrians
As we progressed through the project it was identified their was a need to develop a priority list (which Alice will go into more detail later) and a central spreadsheet that could be used as a working document.
Urban trans also identified one safe walking route per school and 3 cycling routes for 3 schools.
The project was a big one and took quite a few months to complete … David will now go through the complete process and the project methodology…………. .
Identification of at least one safe walking route for each school
Identification of 3 safe cycling routes.
Produce a report for each school summarising the above information, including maps with safe routes to school.
At least one safe walking route for each school and safe cycling routes for two schools.
To improve existing walking areas by creating a more attractive and walkable areas to and from school.
Identify barriers that prevent students travelling independently.
Encourage schools to develop a safe travel plan/ green travel plan.

4. Implementation of Actions Monitoring and Evaluation
What we did
Engagement
Transport Audit
Surveys
Development of Plan
Implementation of Actions
Monitoring and Evaluation
Coordinated assessment of school travel conditions and behaviours
Lots of school engagement!!
Alice
School engagement critical. A large-scale project in this regard to coordinate audits and to implement travel surveys for all schools.
Leveraging school engagement in active travel planning from a coordinated capital works program. Reciprocity

5. Transport environment audits
Footpaths and crossings
Street widths and design
Vehicle parking conditions
Cycle parking
Public transport options
Level and speed of traffic
Observations of behaviours
Interview crossing supervisors
Alice
What is there and what are people doing Vehicle parking conditions, Cycle parking, Public transport options, footpaths and crossings, street widths and design, level and speed of traffic, observations of behaviours
And how, and how much – morning and afternoon, drop off and pick up. Local precinct, talking to crossing supervisors
40 schools
What worked well: engineers with good people skills

6. Child surveys Different surveys to reflect ages of children:
Prep – Year 2
Year 3 – 6
Secondary
Surveys cover:
Current mode of travel
Travel preferences
Key walking routes
Identifiable barriers
Suggestions for change
Alice
Different surveys to reflect ages of children:
Prep – Year 2
Year 3 – 6
Secondary
Surveys cover:
Current mode of travel
Travel preferences
Identifiable barriers
Suggestions for change

7. Parent surveys Travel decision making Influences upon that decision
Identifiable traffic issues
Assessment of child’s cycling ability
Alice
Travel decision making, Influences upon that decision Identifiable traffic issues, Assessment of child’s cycling ability
Valuable to seek parent feedback, just very challenging to get reasonable response rates.

8. Results How children would like to travel
How children travel to school
How children would like to travel
Alice
An example of the survey results.
Understanding current travel behaviours and identifying motivators for change

9. Results Alice Reporting Individual school results:
School modal split, Home location maps (to assess active travel catchment for the school), Busiest streets to target capital works, Feedback on barriers to help guide school actions to support active travel.
Identified first actions for school to deliver
Separate results for Council – both the survey results and the site audits
From these audits and surveys we developed assessment criteria for council to guide prioritisation of future school engagement and capital works

10. Rank priority works to maximise
Assessment criteria to rank priorities
Percentage of children:
walking and cycling to school
Being driven
Catching public transport
Parking conditions
Separation of vehicles and pedestrians
Traffic speeds
Congestion
Condition of footpaths
Existing traffic calming infrastructure
Rank priority works to maximise
Active travel
Safety
Road use impact
Alice
From the suite of audits we identified assessment criteria to guide the council’s capital works prioritisation
Active transport, Safety, Road use impact

11. Priority capital works list – and tracking
Lisa
This is the working spreadsheet of the list of issues identified , this has been completed for each school.
As part of the BMAS program a Traffic engineer & myself will meet with the principal, we go through any current issues revisit the existing audit and survey.
We also include any other issues that have been identified by our audit and may not have been relevant when the Urbantrans audits where completed.
We add new issues that may have been identified by our engineers and we work with the school to put together a proposal to develop a School Travel plan – this is all captured on this working document.

12. Outcomes and next steps
Increased participation in active travel: number of schools and number of children
Strategic approach to capital works and school engagement
Implemented priority list works, highlighting 3-5 schools per year.
Streamlined day-today issues around schools.
Questions?
Lisa
Project outcomes: increased participation in events and programs. Anecdotal: more children walking in previously ‘hard to reach’ schools (due to school culture of ‘status’ driving)
Leveraging school engagement
Each year we have a small budget to implement works from the school participating in the BMAS program
including signage & linemarking works and the offer a mini grant to develop, implement and sustain a School travel plan.
We provided the school survey report prepared by Urbantrans to each school this can be used as basis of their school travel plan …
To date we have 5 schools that have completed School travel plans and are now being implemented, and 2 schools currently developing their School Travel plans
Any larger capital works that are identified will go onto the capital works list for the following year for design then next year for construction - smaller capital works may get designed and constructed in the same year.
This process has streamlined day-to day school issues. It has helped develop positive relationships with schools and when we are contacted by schools we now have a strategic approach.
We can also give the school an approximate date that we will meet from the priority list and explain that issues will be addressed with a holistic approach, rather than fixing one small problem at a time.
We are also finding we are gaining more buy in from schools to participate in events /programs to encourage students to walk, cycle and catch public transport.
All this … encourage and increases Better Moves around our Schools!
Thanks you for listening , any questions