Schoolbus - High School Students

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Sustainability

Schoolbus – High School Students

Student mobility in the city of Bolzano.

Bolzano City Council

Italy

Local policy

POLICY OBJECTIVE

Reduce CO2 emissions and traffic by teaching children to walk or cycle to school if nearby or use public transport to avoid using cars.

The Municipality of Bolzano wants to make students independent so that they can move independently to get to school and back home. In this way, parents are spared the burden of using private vehicles to drop children off at school.

CONTEXT

Children are the adults of the future, and it is important to teach them to
move around the city responsibly. Bolzano is a small city, and it is easy to get
around on foot.

As part of a project to promote alternatives to cars, younger students are
accompanied from home to school and back. For students who live further
away, public transport is a solution for getting around independently without
difficulties.

Bolzano has approximately 12,000 high-school students, almost half of
whom come from neighbouring areas and are therefore obliged to use
public transport to reach the school complexes. Our aim is to prevent the
use of cars by favouring other solutions.

Every year, our office contacts each school to identify changes in the
timetable. This is necessary to coordinate school hours with those of public
transport. If we can ensure a good network of public transport, we can
prevent people from using private vehicles (cars, motorcycles, and so on),
hence reducing traffic — a big issue even in a small city like Bolzano!

POLICY DESCRIPTION

Students have free access to public transport all over South Tyrol, and the magnetic card costs €20 a year. This means students can easily get to school and go back home, or attend extra-school activities (e.g. sports centre, libraries, etc.) by bus.

It is in our interest to ensure a high frequency of city and extra-urban buses, and to position bus stops in close proximity to school entrances. To make things easier, stops are named after the institutes located nearby. In this way, even young children can travel by bus and find their way around. Bus schedules are timed to coincide with school start times.

KEY ASPECTS

A good transport network is key to reducing car traffic. Bolzano is a small city, hence bikes and buses are recommended. The action plan has been built with the involvement of families and schools through discussion groups and suggestions from schools, municipal police force and families.

RESULTS

Thanks to the “Abo+” subscription, which costs only €20, almost all students from elementary to high school have joined the initiative. This allows great independence in transportation for all, who can rely on public transport for travel throughout the Province of Bolzano.

Policy's Website

Sylvia

Profanter

Director of the Office for Statistics and Time of the City

tempi.citta@comune.bolzano.it

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