Travel to school

Find out how to encourage active travel, such as walking or cycling, and other ways to do the school run.

You might want to help improve the environment, congestion and child health. Or perhaps there are issues to address, such as unsafe parking outside the school gates.

Contact us on email: itravel@york.gov.uk.

See further useful information about travel to school:

• Transport to school or college
• School crossing patrols
• Cycle training

How we can help

The iTravel Team (City of York Council) help people across York to change how they travel. This includes children, parents and school staff making the school run. Here are some of the ways we’ve been able to help schools in the past.

• WOW (Living Streets) - children record how they get to school using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk/wheel, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge
• Active Travel Ambassadors (Modeshift) - With support from a Modeshift coordinator and school staff, secondary school children research and develop behaviour change campaigns, focusing on active travel and road safety
• help the school think through its travel issues and opportunities and what actions could make a difference; some schools write School Travel Plans
• help set up initiatives like park and stride sites, walking buses or car sharing
• putting on fun events for children to take part in
• engaging with children about their travel choices, for example at assemblies
• help the school gain Modeshift STARS Accreditation
• linking with other council teams to think about solutions, for example to parking problems outside the school gates

You might have an Active Travel Champion in your school who we could support with the above.

Walk to School Week

The school that has the most children walking, cycling and scooting to school (and leaving the car at home) during that week will win the coveted Jack Archer Award trophy.

Walk to School Week 2025 will take place in October. We’ll be contacting schools in mid-September to see which schools are interested. We’ll let you know how to take part and how to access Walk to School Week resources, which will be made available to download.

We usually contact schools a month before about how to take part, but feel free to contact us on email: itravel@york.gov.uk to find out more.