A school street? This is how you do it
Getting rid of chaos at the school gate? Then a school street is a solution with many advantages. Mobiel 21 is a partner of Paraat voor de Schoolstraat, a campaign that returns the street or streets around a school to active road users at key moments.
Breaking the vicious circle
Anyone who has ever passed a school will recognise the situation: A jumble of (wildly parked) cars, bikes and pedestrians, and everyone is in a hurry. That chaos makes for a very unsafe situation. And that causes even more parents to bring their children to school by car.
This creates a vicious circle that only makes the situation worse. A school lane breaks that vicious circle and makes the environment around the school gate more peaceful and humane again. In practice, we even find that, after the introduction of a school street, parents more often choose to bring or let their children go to school on foot or by bike.
The school street really makes it a lot safer to cycle to school. This clearly encourages many people to bring their children by bike. As a result, there are also noticeably fewer cars on the rest of our route to school."
Papa van Kato en Robin
How do you get started?
A school street is a street with a school entrance where motorised traffic is barred at the beginning and end of the school day for half an hour (except for emergency and utility services). The street is then there only for pedestrians and cyclists. Parents bringing their children by car can park a little further away and accompany their children on foot to the school gate.
Several parties work together on a school street: management, teachers, parents, local residents, municipality, local police and the pupils themselves. Mobiel 21 is a partner of Paraat voor de Schoolstraat, which means that as a school or municipality, you can call on Mobiel 21 to manage this process.
We guide you through all the steps and arrangements to realise a School Street:
- bringing together a trigger group
- guidance in the purchase of materials
- advice on applying for permits and administrative obligations
- a call for volunteers
- organising an information evening
- highlighting the festive opening of the school street
From test to a permanent school street
The best way to experience the positive impact of a school street is to test it out for at least a month. Even better, of course, is for a semester or an entire school year. You can be sure of these instant benefits anyway:
- Better air quality around the school. And everyone benefits from this, including local residents.
- More calm and less chaos and stress, which automatically makes the school gate more congenial.
- More alert children in class because more come to school by bike and on foot.
Initiatives the strengthen your school street even more.
School transport plan
In een schoolvervoerplan breng je met alle betrokken partijen de gevaarlijke en veilige punten op weg naar school in kaart. Het is een belangrijke troef om te werken aan een veilige schoolomgeving.
Aya at School
Aya is een knotsgek, knalgeel ruimtewezentje dat kleuters helpt om ons verkeer beter te begrijpen. Met een Aya-campagne zetten scholen ouders en kinderen ook aan om duurzaam naar school te komen.
Schools Count!
School op de Teller is een kant-en-klaar lespakket dat leerlingen kritisch leert kijken naar de mobiliteit in hun buurt. Met de hulp van verkeerstellingen doen ze voorstellen voor een kindvriendelijke schoolomgeving.
Traffic Education Route
Een Verkeerseducatieve Route of VERO geeft kinderen, van kleuters tot tieners, de kans om met hun klas of ouders buiten de schoolmuren te oefenen en te leren hoe ze zich veilig in het verkeer kunnen bewegen.
Walking & Cyling Pooling
Poolen is met een kleine, duidelijk herkenbare groep kinderen, onder begeleiding van een of meer volwassenen naar school of naar hobby’s fietsen of wandelen. Ze zijn m.a.w. een gezonder, veiliger en milieuvriendelijker idee dan de auto nemen.
School route map
Op een schoolroutekaart staan de beste en veiligste routes om naar school te fietsen en te wandelen. Zo kiezn leerlingen gemakkelijker de beste route naar school en kunnen ze knelpunten omzeilen.
Questions about school streets?
Our colleague and school mobility expert, Glenn Godin, is happy to answer them. Contact him using the form below.
Related insights
2025 in cijfers
Alle belangrijke impactcijfers van een heel jaar in een handige infographic vol hyperlinks. Klikken maar!
Books to read (or give as gifts :-)
As the days get darker, wetter and perhaps colder, the lure of staying cosy inside and plopping down on the sofa with a good book sounds all the louder. We made a selection that will fit in your hands as well as under the Christmas tree.
Creating people-friendly streets
Streets should prioritise people over cars. Through creative campaigns, temporary interventions and experiments, we show how cities and towns can reclaim space for walking, cycling and community life.