The goal

Our goal is to get more students using travel modes that are active, safe, and sustainable.

This means more children walking, wheeling (bicycle, scooter, skateboard, wheel chair) or taking the school bus or public transit for all or part of their journey to and from school each day.

Achieving this goal is no simple matter – it requires a societal shift in our current travel behaviours and multiple community stakeholders working together.

Active School Travel initiatives in Ontario work towards this goal by implementing these steps to success, known as ‘the Five E’s’: Education, Encouragement, Engineering, Enforcement and Evaluation.

Education and Encouragement activities are a great starting point for many schools. They help raise awareness of and celebrate the benefits of active school travel . However, on their own they are unlikely to achieve long-term changes in student travel behaviour.

Our recommended approach is to address all Five E’s using School Travel Planning (STP). Watch the short video below to learn how STP works.