Have your say on the future of school travel in Greater Manchester
This is your chance to be heard about the future of school travel in Greater Manchester, through the School Travel Strategy Consultation.
What is the School Travel Strategy Consultation and why is it important?
The School Travel Strategy Consultation is a survey open to all residents of Greater Manchester. Anyone can respond to the consultation, so it is an opportunity for young people to have your voices heard by sharing your views and ideas on how to improve school and college journeys for everyone. It is vital that young people and children are invited to have their say, as the consultation addresses important issues that can impact you, your wider community and your future. Issues such as:
- Improving the mental and physical health of young people
- Creating safe and attractive streets
- Helping the environment
- Reducing air pollution
- Reducing congestion
- Enabling future travel choices
- Supporting with the cost-of-living crisis
- Supporting care responsibilities
The consultation allows you to say what your generation wants, which can have a big impact and help to make meaningful change.
What is the School Travel Strategy?
Greater Manchester has set out its ambition for more children and young people to choose to walk, wheel (wheelchair users, people using a mobility aid, and people pushing a buggy/pram), scoot, cycle or use public transport to get to school and access further education. The draft School Travel Strategy has been developed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the 10 councils.
The Greater Manchester city-region is seeking to tackle barriers that young people might face, stopping you from walking, wheeling and cycling, or using public transport and is committed to improving travel to and from places of education. Areas for making change and continuing existing efforts, proposed in the draft Strategy include:
- Creating safer streets around schools: We want to implement a combination of physical behavioural road safety interventions to improve safety in the immediate area around schools.
- Continuing to deliver walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure: We aim to create more cycle routes and crossings, using data and insight to inform future priorities.
- Increasing access to cycle and secure cycle storage: We want to help improve access to cycles through creating more bike libraries and providing additional cycle storage.
- Supporting young people to become travel champions: We want to develop a new programme to teach children and young people and their families essential travel skills, such as crossing roads safely, riding bikes, and using public transport.
- Improving the customer experience on public transport: We want to create a more reliable, affordable, and accessible public transport network.
- Making the Bee Network safe and secure: We want to improve safety and security so that passengers feel safe and confident when travelling.
- Creating a joined-up transport network: We want to bring buses, trams, trains, active travel and school services together, so that we can provide improved travel options for young people and the wider community.
- Engaging schools and local communities: We want to collaborate with schools and local communities to enable them to run initiatives that promote walking, wheeling, scooting, cycling or using public transport.
Why should you take part in the consultation?
The School Travel Strategy Consultation is an opportunity for you to have your voice heard. You will be able to have a say in what changes are needed to improve your travel to school and college and help shape a transport system that is right for you now and in the future. It is a chance to really make a difference, get involved in social change and show what we can learn from young people. The feedback you give will be used to inform the final version of the School Travel Strategy.
How to take part in the School Travel Strategy Consultation
The online version of the School Travel Strategy Consultation can be accessed via the GM consult website, and will be open until 26th January 2025. If an online survey is not suitable, you can send us your feedback either in writing or via video message to gmschooltravel@tfgm.com. For children and young people under 16, a parent, guardian or teacher must confirm on video they give their consent.
