Certification system as a tool for improving the safety and sustainability of school-related travels

Abstract

Despite the well-established physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spatial benefits of active and autonomous school commuting of children and adolescents', many are driven by car. Pilot surveys and field research held in 2019 in 10 Gdansk primary schools confirmed this trend. The article presents a certification system for schools, commissioned by the City of Gdańsk, which is an element of a systemic solution shaping patterns of transport behavior in school trips. The essence of the proposed approach is motivating and supporting schools by government to create conditions conducive to independent and active travel of children and adolescents. An important element of the certification process is the assessment stage in accordance with the set of criteria adopted and grouped into six areas concerning: children transport behavior, infrastructure and traffic organization in and around the school, mobility policy, road safety, promotion, and education. Groups of criteria were divided into basic and extended ones and assigned points in an assessment calculator. A minimum threshold of points has been set in each category to attract schools to take comprehensive action. The assessment calculator has been supplemented by catalogues of good practices describing possible actions that could be taken to meet a given criterion. The full certification process has not yet been completed in Gdańsk due to the coronavirus pandemic and the transition to remote learning. However, the first infrastructural improvements have already been made in the vicinity of schools.