Camden promotes app to cut school run congestion

Travel data collected by the HomeRun app is making it easier for parents in Camden to turn to sustainable alternatives to take their children to and from school.

Camden Council is encouraging parents to use a new app in a bid to reduce traffic, air pollution and carbon emissions on the school run. The school transport platform HomeRun connects parents for journey-sharing, at the same time as collecting GDPR-compliant data to enable a data-led approach to transport planning.

Councillors at the London borough want to lessen the impact of the school run, the single biggest contributor to the morning rush hour traffic. They are working with HomeRun to pull together a network of schools that can join forces to reduce congestion.

“School-run traffic clogs our streets and poisons our air,” said Matthew Kirk, Liberal Democrat councillor for Belsize ward.

“HomeRun has already significantly reduced the number of cars around Belsize – and the impact is growing. Children who start at a school where the app has been rolled out are more likely to travel by public transport, bikes or car-share. This carries on as they move up through the years – so the positive effects multiply. We hope that many more schools will join in.”

Camden Council wants to create a network of 16 schools, enabling parents to plan easier, greener journeys to school, such as connecting nearby parents to form ‘walking or bike buses’, car-sharing and even electric mini-buses.

The app is being promoted by schools, parents, the council and individual councillors in Camden.

The app collects anonymised travel data from parents. The data, which is updated each term, includes: how far they travel to school; what mode of transport the families take, including the make or model of car; and the amount of carbon emitted. This data can help schools and local authorities make more informed transport planning decisions.

For the full article by Claire McDonald visit Camden promotes app to cut school run congestion (transportxtra.com)