(DFT) Best feet forward as London pupils say goodbye to the school run

Primary school children across London are swapping their parents' cars for the pavement in return for a share of £1.8m of Government money. 94 schools in the capital have been awarded up to £1,000 to encourage pupils to walk to school, helping them to keep fit and reducing the number of journeys made by car.

'Walking buses' are convoys of pupils accompanied by staff or volunteers which follow a set route to school, and are amongst a range of measures introduced by local heads in recent years to curb the number of cars on the school run. Now those schools whose schemes have seen a sufficient drop in the number of car journeys to and from the school gates are set to benefit from an extension to their funding.

Transport Minister, Paul Clark, said:

"We have always been clear that we want as many children to walk or cycle to school as possible. Not only will this help tackle the issues of childhood obesity and carbon emissions, it is also an excellent way for young children to learn more about road safety. I am delighted that these 94 schools in London are doing such great work."

Schools which have managed to save an average of five return car trips a day will be receiving a grant of £1,000 to continue their work, while those running smaller schemes will each receive £500. Typically, grants are spent on organising and promoting the schemes, in addition to providing equipment such as high-visibility clothing.