Welcome to the School Street
Have you ever set off to take the kids to school, only to turn into the road by the gate and be met by a sign, a camera and a street full of scooters? Welcome to the School Street.
School Streets close the road outside a school to most traffic at drop-off and pick-up times, so children can walk, cycle or scoot in safely. The idea began in East Lothian, Scotland, in 2012, and London's first followed in Camden a few years later. Numbers grew quickly from 2020, when councils needed more space outside schools during the pandemic.
The reasoning is simple: the school run makes up around a quarter of London's weekday morning traffic, yet the average school journey is under a mile. Where School Streets are in place, traffic pollution (nitrogen dioxide) falls by up to 23% outside the school at morning drop-off, school gates are calmer and safer, and 77% of parents and carers in a TfL survey supported keeping them.
A few things worth knowing:
There are a lot of them. Around 800 in London, roughly one in four schools.
Times vary from school to school. Typically around 8–9.15am and 2.45–4pm on term-time weekdays. The sign at the entrance shows the hours.
Cameras do the checking. Most are enforced by number-plate cameras, so there's no one at the barrier to explain things to.
The fine is £130. It drops to £65 if paid within 14 days and goes to the car's registered keeper, so a borrowed or grandparent's car can still be caught.
Some people are exempt. Residents and businesses on the street and Blue Badge holders usually are, and a car parked before the restriction starts can leave without a fine.
Holidays are different. During school holidays and half term, including this week, they go back to being normal roads.
To see whether your school has one, search "School Streets" with your council's name. Camden, home to London's first School Street, lists its Healthy School Streets here.
By KinRoute
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