Safety at the school gate Safety at the school gate

We understand that the traffic congestion outside schools in the morning and afternoon peak times is very frustrating. Not only that, but illegal parking puts our children at risk.

Presently we are not considering changing parking restrictions due to a Safety at the School Gate Trial from Term four - end of 2018. However, you may like to read more about the Safety at the School Gate Programme or the #PARKandWALK promotion that could be run at your school to educate parents about safe parking around the school.

Another possible way to minimise traffic congestion could be to implement Walking School Buses at your school.

Caption: Mayor Phil Goff walking with the Walking School Bus participants at the 2017 Farmers Santa Parade

Find out more about the Walking School Bus Programme.

Safety at the School Gate Programme

Auckland Transport runs a Safety at the School Gate programme with individual schools in Auckland.

The Safety at the School Gate programme aims to support a safer environment for students, staff and parents traveling to and from school. This programme provides dedicated parking enforcement that occurs randomly during the school term. Schools are required to notify their parent community if they are participating in this programme. To find out more about this programme, or to sign up, contact Travelwise@at.govt.nz

Find out more information about infringement fines.

Safety at the School Gate Trial 

While the current Safety at the School Gate programme has short term impact when Parking Officers are present, we have not created long term behaviour change that improves the safety for all road users.

In Term four we will start to identify and provide four schools with different parking options or facilities to manage their parking demands for families that chose to drive to school. We will continue to promote the emphasis that we already place on active travel options - walking, cycling and public/school bus transport for school journeys.

The trial is based on national and international research into what kinds of scenarios can create the safest environments, balancing the needs of all users and also encouraging active transport. This trial will include enforcement along with physical changes and will be monitored and evaluated over the period of the 2018 school year. The long term goal is to identify suitable, cost effective solutions that can then be rolled out to schools in the Auckland region.

While we focus on the trial until the end of 2018, we will not be accepting any requests for parking changes or restrictions outside schools.

#PARKandWALK

Before and after school is a busy time. Parking rules help to protect children and keep them safe. Drivers who park illegally put children at risk. Parking at least 400m away from school and walking to the gates reduces the risks of crashes and injuries.

The #PARKandWALK promotion offers schools the opportunity to educate their school community about the benefits of parking further from the school and encouraging children to walk or walking their child/ren safely to the school.

To organise a #PARKandWALK promotion at your school, please contact your Community Transport Coordinator, or Travelwise@at.govt.nz