Our Goal
Our goal is to get more students using travel modes that are active, safe, and sustainable. This means more children walking, rolling (bicycle, scooter, skateboard, wheel chair) or taking the school bus or public transit for all or part of their journey to and from school each day.
What is a School Street?
A School Street is a temporary exclusive walking and cycling corridor during drop off and pick up times, it is usually carried out with temporary barriers. The goals of a school street are to:
● Create a safe environment for kids to safely walk and cycle school
● Encourage healthy active travel and promote independent mobility
● Reduce locally generated congestion and improve air quality
● Support physically distancing needs due to COVID 19
Why a School Street?
Vehicular drop off and pick up traffic directly around a school presents a safety risk to kids already on foot and bike. It can be discouraging to parents and kids who would like to try active travel but find it too risky
Residents and children on the morning walk to school at Hopewell Ave on crowded sidewalks and crosswalks. The volume of vehicle traffic, the space it removes from active transport, can make for an anxious trip to school for those on foot and bike
To reduce congestion and promote safe active mobility we seek to propose a temporary exclusive walking and cycling corridor during drop off and pick up times
How would it work?
School Streets that have been successfully piloted in Vancouver and Toronto have closed streets immediately adjacent to schools to vehicular traffic. School Streets are successful due to the hard work of volunteers, contributions from partner organizations, and strong civic leadership. We seek to repeat and build upon the success of other cities by piloting School Streets across Ottawa. If you want to find out how you can help then please contact us.
Schools Streets Ottawa 