Traffic restriction schemes are increasingly being implemented around schools in the United Kingdom. These schemes take many forms, including the use of volunteers to close streets during drop-off and pick-up times or use of council signage to announce restrictions and cameras to enforce them. In the CROSS study we are looking at how these schemes may influence children’s levels of active travel to school.
CROSS will address the following overarching research questions:
Do traffic reduction schemes outside schools impact on children’s levels of active commuting and travel and are there differential impacts according to geographical area or socio-economic context?
What are the mechanisms and pathways by these schemes may (or may not) work to change children’s levels of active travel?
How might the impacts and mechanisms of these vary by context (e.g social, physical, school and community) and how might impacts be optimised across contexts?
We will study 6-8 different sites across the UK where traffic restriction schemes are in place, and compare them with geographically and demographically similar sites where such schemes have not been implemented, using routinely collected data about the way children get to school. We will also talk with children and their families about their experiences of motor vehicle restriction schemes and how their designs could be improved.
