Plan to ease congestion for Peninsula

A new School Travel Plan for Rutherford students will help ease traffic congestion on Waitakere’s Te Atatu Peninsula.

Peninsula commuters and students travelling to schools in the Rutherford area will benefit from a School Travel Plan that focuses on reducing congestion around schools by providing alternative and sustainable travel choices such as walking and cycling. In reducing the number of cars in and around schools, students are safer to walk to school. Recent figures indicate up to 40% of all morning traffic is school-related. To combat this problem School Travel Plans are created with the community, Council and the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA).

Key supporter Rutherford Primary School found over 50% of parents drive their children to school in the morning, only a third walking and very few travelling by bike or bus. About 22% of children said they would like to bike to school.

Rutherford College’s survey produced similar results. Over 40% of students are dropped off by their parents, 35% walk to school and over 20% travel by bus. Very few travel by bike.
At Te Atatu’s Tu Tangata Academy 76% of students drive to school, with most parking on site. On a positive note, 52% of the car-travelling group carpool and 12% said they would consider carpooling.

Options to make the route to school safer and reduce congestion include walking school buses, car pooling, new pedestrian crossings and patrols.

The community is invited to learn more about the School Travel Plan process at a meeting to be held in the staffroom of Rutherford Primary School, 3.30pm, Thursday 14th April 2005. Youth and Road Safety advocate Councillor Ewen Gilmour will also be attending the meeting.

© Scoop Media