A TravelSmart School realizes that the best way to relieve congestion, increase safety and keep kids fit is by encouraging children to use active transport for their trips to and from school.

The Department of Transport has two programs that help schools do this:

• TravelSmart to School and
  
  
• Walking School Bus

On an average school day more than one in five cars on the road during the morning peak hour in Perth are involved in ferrying kids to school. Every year these cars travel about 80 million kilometres chauffeuring kids to school in the morning alone. The increasing popularity of the ‘parent taxi’ for the school run is causing a number of problems:

• increased vehicle emissions that contribute to local air pollution and global warming
  
  
• severe congestion around schools at pick up and drop off
  
  
• more overweight and obese children as kids miss out on valuable physical activity getting to and from school

Encouraging children to walk, cycle or use public transport to get to school is an easy way to incorporate physical activity in their day and reduce traffic around schools.