Travel safely to school

Prepare for travel by school bus

• Parents of primary school students, please refer to your school’s pack to plan their travel.
• Plan your journey using the journey planner and interchange maps.
• Practice travelling to school on a bus.
• Organise a Student MyWay card, make sure it is topped up and registered.
• If at any time during your travel you feel unsafe, please tell a bus driver, transport officer, or contact a parent or guardian to let them know.

What to do if you miss your service

If you miss your bus or light rail service on your way to or from school, try:

• Waiting for the next service – most public routes run at least every twenty to thirty minutes before and after school, and much more often for major routes. In most cases, your best option will be to wait for the next service. You can find out when your next service is due using the journey planner.
• Finding an alternative route – sometimes it will be a better option to use a different bus or light rail to get to school, if you miss your usual service. You can find out what the best option is using the journey planner.
• If services are disrupted, follow directions – unfortunately, services won’t always operate as normal. Disruptions can happen due to buses breaking down or other reasons. If this happens while you are travelling, follow directions from bus drivers or ask a staff member for help if you are unsure what to do.
• Contact a parent and let them know – if you don’t know what to do and can’t find a staff member to help, contact a parent or guardian to let them know where you are and what has happened.

If you feel unsafe in an interchange, tell a bus driver, transport officer, or contact a parent or guardian to let them know.

Acceptable behaviour

Please stay safe and behave appropriately near bus interchanges and roads.

Transport interchanges are not a playground. Don’t run or play ball games while waiting for a bus or light rail.

Do not run across roads, always look before you cross, and use pedestrian crossings where they are available.

Bus safety tips for students

• Signal the driver a safe distance from the kerb by raising your arm – and give the driver plenty of notice.
• Wait until the bus has left before you cross. Never walk in front of a bus, other road users can’t see you.
• Bus stops and interchanges aren’t playgrounds. Don’t run or play ball games while waiting for a bus or light rail.
• Put your phone away and turn the music down (or off) when you are moving around bus interchanges and crossing roads.
• Always look before you cross the road. Use pedestrian crossings where you can.
• Our bus drivers can contact police or emergency services if necessary.

Driving safely

Creating a safe environment around schools requires a collaborative approach from everyone including parents, teachers, children and the broader community.

Speed, congestion and poor parking are all factors that can impact the safety of children. Often these poor behaviours arise from people within the school community itself, so it is important to remember that your behaviour is equally as important as the next person.

If you need to drive to school, obey the road rules and be polite and respectful to other drivers. A little bit of patience and courtesy can go a long way to protecting the safety of children.

Remember to:

• Drive very slowly through the car park (max 10km/h) and be alert for children at all times
• Never park in the pick-up and set down zone, it defeats the purpose of the area as a quick drop-off/collection point
• If the area is managed by staff or parents, clearly display your surname in bold capitals on the passenger side of the vehicle (either under the sun visor or on the dashboard)
• Children can generally be dropped at school 30 minutes prior or picked up 10-15 minutes after school, which can help to reduce the concentrated peak
• Minimise the days you drive your children by encouraging them to walk or ride
• If you need to drive, utilise partway drop off or collection points around the school to reduce congestion in the school carpark and pick-up and set down zone

Remind children to:

• Always depart and enter the vehicle directly onto the footpath, not the road
• Have their bags and other items readily available so they can quickly depart/enter the car
• Wait in a safe location back from the kerb until they are collected
• Keep seat belts on until the vehicle has stopped and you are ready to exit the car
• Follow the instructions of the staff/volunteers managing the pick-up and set down zone.

Walking and cycling tips

Teaching children to travel safely to school on their own is a great way to build confidence and allow children to grow. Prior to letting children set out on their own, it is important to set them up with the skills and knowledge to ensure they can travel safely.

Some of the key things to remember include:

• showing children the best route to and from school (in person and on a map)
• teaching children how to cross roads safely (utilise crossings and underpasses where possible)
• what to do in case of an emergency (key people to contact or where to go).

Encourage children to walk or ride to school in groups with their siblings, friends or neighbours. It is an excellent way to develop friendships and creates a safer environment as they are more visible to traffic and can help each other if required.

If your child is still too young to travel independently, create a roster with parents who live nearby to take it in turns to travel to and from school with the children. The children will quickly develop the skills and knowledge to travel independently.

Visit the Constable Kenny website for more useful safety tips and information, including a range of safety videos.

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a common issue around schools during the morning and afternoon peak periods.

Streets aren’t designed to cope with the sudden increase in traffic volumes for 15-20 minute periods each morning and afternoon. There is no traffic engineering solution to resolve this problem, roads and car parks simply aren’t built to meet the high demand over a short timeframe.

Here are some useful tips to reduce congestion and improve safety near schools:

• encourage children to use active travel
• use part way drop off and collection points
• where possible, avoid the peak times (generally 8:30 - 9:00am and 2:45 - 3:15pm)

If you need to drive your children to school, try reducing the number of days you drive or varying the drop off and pick up locations. If everyone opts to use active travel once a week it can reduce traffic volumes by 20% around the school. If everyone increased their active travel to two days per week, traffic volumes will be reduced by 40% and suddenly the school doesn’t face a congestion concern.

Constable Kenny

Booking a Constable Kenny visit for younger primary school children will support your students in their road safety journey.

Pick-up and set down zones

Pick-up and set down zones (commonly referred to as a kiss and drop zone) can help to reduce congestion and increase safety. The afternoon peak is generally more concentrated than the morning peak, so the pick-up and set down zone might only need to be managed each afternoon and only for 10-15 minutes.

To ensure the pick-up and set down zone is safe and efficient, schools should:

• Seek staff, P&C representatives or parents to manage the children and cars
• Encourage parents to display their surname on the passenger side of the vehicle (either under the sun visor or on the dashboard) to assist managing the students
• Purchase some high visibility clothing (e.g. some vests) to clearly distinguish the staff/volunteers to cars and students
• Consider using walkie talkies (depending on the size of the zone) so staff/volunteers can communicate which children need to be ready for collection
• Develop a set of guidelines and regularly promote them within the school community
• Include a map in the guidelines to clearly delineate to parents the pick-up and set down zone
• Train parents to do a lap and re-join the line if their child isn’t ready for collection
• Encourage parents to collect children 10-15 minutes after the bell to reduce the concentration of cars (the afternoon peak is usually worse, but only lasts for 10-15 minutes)
• Encourage more students to use active travel, which will reduce the traffic.

Transport Canberra and City Services' School Safety Program can provide advice about how to develop a successful pick-up and set down zone, including examples from other ACT schools.

Printable brochures

Children's crossings (PDF 519.3 KB)
Traffic management around schools (PDF 571.3 KB)

School safety tiles

Click on an image below to view the image in Flickr and download it if required.