Nearly two thirds of teachers would happily support a ban of vehicles outside the school gates during drop-off and pick-up times, a survey suggests.
Sustrans, the walking and cycling charity, surveyed 840 teachers across the UK and found more than half (59%) want the government to take urgent action to improve air quality near schools.
When asked what would help bring down the levels of air pollution outside schools, a third (34%) thought encouraging more people to walk, scoot and cycle would help reduce fumes, followed by educating the school community about the cause and effects of air pollution (28%) and school road closures (26%).
“We need to radically change the way we travel,” said Xavier Brice, CEO of Sustrans. “Idling car engines and snarled up roads poison the air and our children’s bodies across the UK.”
Air pollution is linked to up to 36,000 premature deaths in the UK each year and more than 2,000 schools and nurseries are near to roads with damaging levels of motor emissions.
Earlier this month, Public Health England published a set of interventions for local authorities to urgently limit transport emissions, including banning idling car engines around schools and investing in foot and cycle paths.
Brice, from Sustrans, believes dangerous levels of air pollution near schools have been ignored for too long. “Finally this is starting to change,” he said. “Our survey makes it clear that teachers want urgent action to clean up toxic fumes. They see closing the roads outside their school as an effective solution but need support from local authorities to enact change.”
The charity urged people to support local authorities and implement clean air legislation to tackle traffic, including investment in walking and cycling to enable more people to choose cleaner ways to travel.
Sophie Gallois, Unicef UK’s director of advocacy and communications, said a ban on motor vehicles outside the schools gates has potential to “make a real difference”. This isn’t just about the school street itself, she said, but also taking quieter routes to school, away from busy main roads.
“The government must take urgent action to tackle this growing health crisis by putting children’s health at the heart of its work on air pollution,” she said. “That includes focusing interventions on places where children are most exposed to toxic air, like schools, and promoting behavioural changes that will create real impact for children now and in the future.”
A government spokeswoman told the Guardian: “We are committed to driving down emissions across all modes of transport, and recognise that greener travel options are a crucial way to clean up our air.”