TfL Celebrates 18 London Schools For Outstanding Efforts To Boost Active Travel

Transport for London (TfL) today celebrated London schools for their outstanding work to increase active travel and improve safety and air quality across the city, as part of TfL’s schools programme, Travel for Life.

An ‘Inspiring Success’ awards ceremony hosted by London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, celebrated 18 schools nominated by their local council for inspiring delivery of TfL’s Travel for Life accreditation programme. TfL Travel for Life offers free education programmes to schools and education settings across London, to help them increase active and sustainable travel options on the school run, reduce car use and improve safety, health and wellbeing.

Nightingale Primary School in Redbridge reduced car usage on the school run from 30 per cent to 19 per cent, William Morris School in Merton increased walking and cycling by four per cent, and Thames View Junior School in Barking and Dagenham brought car and motorcycle use down to just nine per cent.

Each of the 18 schools have also delivered improvements from installing cycle and scooter facilities to introducing safer streets around school gates. Springfield Primary School in Hackney installed storage for 55 additional scooters and secured eight pool bikes, while Nightingale Primary School in Redbridge helped secure a School Street.

Around 1,500 London schools are now taking part in TfL Travel for Life, which is delivered in partnership with the London Transport Museum and London boroughs. Schools achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold accreditation for reducing car use, improving safety and increasing sustainable travel.

Last year, TfL reached a significant milestone of more than 1,000 Gold-accredited schools, and is on track to maintain this for the current academic year. To achieve Gold accreditation, a school must reduce car use by six per cent or achieve 90 per cent of the school run on sustainable transport.

TfL Travel for Life and the work delivered by schools supports the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy. This strategy includes Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on London’s transport network by 2041, and the Healthy Streets approach, which focuses on creating streets where everyone feels safe to walk, wheel, scoot and cycle.

School streets are part of TfL’s Healthy Streets programme and TfL has provided funding to London boroughs to deliver 469 school streets between 2022 and 2025.

Schools that are not yet involved with TfL Travel for Life are encouraged to do so. By taking part, they can play a vital role in creating safer, greener and healthier journeys for young Londoners.

London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said: “These awards recognise the outstanding work of schools across London helping more children walk, cycle and scoot to school, while improving road safety and air quality in their communities.

“I’m delighted that more than 1,500 schools are now taking part in Travel for Life, but we want even more schools to benefit, and I encourage any schools interested in getting involved to get in touch with TfL.

“The Mayor and I are committed to making it easier for people to choose walking or cycling on short regular journeys like the school run, as we continue building a greener, safer, better London for everyone.”

Lilli Matson, TfL’s Chief Safety, Health & Environment Officer, said: “The achievements recognised at our Inspiring Success event highlights the incredible role schools plays in shaping safer streets and healthier futures for young Londoners. By championing active travel and road safety, these schools are supporting our Vision Zero ambition and improving air quality in the city. It’s impressive to see so many schools leading the way, and we want to build on this momentum. I would encourage any school that is not part of the programme to sign-up and become part of creating a safer, greener and more sustainable London.”  

Elizabeth McKay, Director and CEO of London Transport Museum, said: “It’s a privilege to collaborate with TfL and the London Boroughs to deliver a programme as important as TfL Travel for Life. This initiative plays a key part in how we support young Londoners to build confidence and travel safely and sustainably. I’m always inspired by the commitment from schools across the city, who consistently demonstrate the real impact everyday journeys can have on safety, wellbeing, and London’s future.”

A teacher at St Peter’s Dock Primary School, Tower Hamlets, said: “We are so happy to be nominated as an “Inspiring school” as part of the TfL Travel for Life programme – it means so much. We have worked really hard this year on the programme and our pupils have become real advocates for reducing car use, improving safety and making sure everyone walks or cycles to school when they can. We are really proud of them.”

Vision Zero is at the heart of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, with the goal of eliminating all deaths and serious injuries on London’s transport system by 2041. The first Vision Zero Action Plan for roads, launched in 2018, has delivered significant success, contributing to a 24 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads (comparing the 2010–14 baseline with 2024 figures). The second Vision Zero Action Plan, launched earlier this year, builds on these achievements by setting out the key lessons learned to date. It outlines how the partnership between TfL, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and London boroughs will focus their efforts going forward, prioritising interventions with the greatest potential to reduce harm and move closer to the ambition of zero.