No Car Zones Outside Cambs Schools Could Be Extended

Scheme could be extended after two encouraging trials.

The zones were introduced outside St Bede’s Inter-Church School and St Matthew’s Primary School in Cambridge from April 2021 after a trial was instigated by Cambridgeshire County Council.

This was on top of a separate initiative involving seven Cambridgeshire schools which was introduced early on in the pandemic thanks to funding from the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund.

A report on the schemes has been carried out by the MRC (Medical Research Council) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge which described the results as “encouraging”.

It was noted that “it is feasible for these schemes to affect safety outside of schools and levels of walking, cycling and scooting to school”.

In addition, it was felt that journeys to and from school were safer thanks to the no car zones, although the authors added that wider interventions are needed to encourage long-term changes in travel behaviours.

Based on the findings, the report recommends that further no car zones are implemented across the county, subject to external funding being found, as each scheme is expected to cost between £2,000 and £5,000 to introduce.

The proposal will be considered by the council’s Strategy & Resources Committee at its meeting on 29 March.