A trailblazing project aimed at encouraging children to walk, cycle and take public transport to and from school in Haringey has scooped a prestigious national award.

At the 2023 Modeshift National Sustainable Travel Awards, the council beat off stiff competition to be named winners of the Educational Engagement Project of the Year.

The award recognised two groundbreaking classroom resources developed and delivered by the Smarter Travel Team to increase active travel and build confidence to use public transport as students transition from primary to secondary school.

Moving Up Magazine is full of useful advice to help keep children safe whilst travelling and the Mission Transition Competition guides children in Year 6 to answer questions about bus and tube journeys, nudging them to feel confident using these forms of travel.

Cllr Mike Hakata, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport, said:

This is fantastic news.  These prestigious national awards encourage sustainable travel projects by highlighting best practice and innovation, so for Haringey and our Smarter Travel Team to be honoured in this way is a major achievement.

Through our ambitious Streets for People project we are at the forefront of making it easier and safer for children and their families to switch to active and environmentally friendly travel, while also cutting pollution and improving public health. 

It’s great to know that our commitment to building a fairer, greener borough is being recognised at the very highest level.  

To encourage active travel to and from school, Haringey has one of the fastest growing School Streets programmes with more than 11,000 children at 28 schools already benefiting from 24 zones spanning 6km during drop-off and pick-up times. 

The council aims to almost treble the number of School Streets to 61 by 2026, transforming journeys and improving air quality at the school gates for up to 36,000 children.