Education of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists is essential for non-motorists’ safety and mobility. Increased non-motorized transportation can help achieve transportation demand management objectives, and provides other community benefits including improved public health, and local economic development. There are a number of strategies to help encourage and promote walking and bicycling to support these objectives. A number of types of programs can be implemented:

• In-schools, pedestrian and cycling classes can be integrated with school trip management programs (reducing child auto travel to, and traffic around schools), personal safety and fitness, and physical education programs.
• Adult cycling skills classes, may be taught at recreational facilities, or provided through local traffic safety associations.
• Public education campaigns targeting motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians covering cyclists and pedestrians rights and safety skills.
• Transportation demand management programs, such as parking cash out (giving commuters who don’t drive to work the cash equivalent of parking subsidies provided to drivers), which provide financial incentives to use travel alternatives such as walking and cycling.
• Parks, recreational programs, or non-profit groups can sponsor walking and cycling events and activities, particularly on trails and cycling routes.
• Tourist promotion materials can highlight walking and cycling.
• Special bicycle events can raise the profile of cycling in the community and offer commuters an opportunity to try cycling. The event may include special publicity, special guidance to first-time bicycle commuters on choosing a route, or special breakfasts for bicycle commuters.

Much of the existing research understanding about attitudes towards sustainable transport relates to adults. Little is currently known about the attitudes of young people towards sustainability, particularly in relation to transport choice, and how these attitudes affect behaviour. Young people are significant users of public transport, but not considered to be valuable customers by providers (or their drivers/operatives), for reasons of mistrust or lower revenue potential. Similar barriers to use exist for young people and adults when considering alternative transport choices, such as perceived reliability, convenience, cost, quality, and safety.

Perceptions of transport evolve throughout young life in three phases. Younger children consider the fun aspects of transport important (under 11s - walking and cycling - safety aspects always mentioned). Older teenagers appreciate the independence that not being reliant on lifts can bring (teenagers - walking and cycling, bus and rail). The use of buses for purposes other than to school or college increases sharply at around the age of 13, when independent travel with friends becomes commonplace. Older teenagers and young adults use public transport for reasons of cost and mainly not out of choice (students - money saving potential of using public transport). The aspiration for car ownership and use is high.

It is important to take into account both age and gender of young people when targeting specific messages about transport and developing future initiatives. For example, boys of lower secondary age will be more open to messages relating to health and fitness than girls, whilst the latter put greater importance in walking and bus use for social reasons. For many young people, the most important influence on travel behaviour is parents (parents - particularly the home to school journey). Children may have positive attitudes towards sustainable travel, but their may not. As well as developing attitudes in the next generation of adults, current work should focus on ways of reducing conflicting messages both at home and elsewhere.

Recommendations are drawn out in a number of areas, including travel campaign development and education policy and ways of involving parents and wider communities in adopting and acting on positive attitudes to sustainable transport. The following list is a summary of different approaches to developing attitudes to sustainable transport:

• Sustainability or environmental topics brought into mainstream subjects
• Specific activities - classes, activities, visits, out of school
• Whole School initiatives
• Activities in informal education sector
• General awareness raising campaigns
• Individualised Marketing/Social Marketing

There is increasing awareness of sustainability issues, especially amongst younger children, but generally this is considered to be low. Transport teaching is increasing as more resources become available and through newer initiatives such as safe routes to school/school travel planning/cycle training schemes/road safety education.

Case study: Yorkshire and Humber - Junior and Senior SAFEMark
The SAFEMark project for 11-16 year olds was pioneered during Target 1 by SYPTE. Due to its success, it will be rolled-out across the Yorkshire and Humber region and to Target partners. The SAFEMark award scheme will also be adapted for Junior SAFEMark, the 6-11age group, with an emphasis on providing pupils and schools with a community-based project that focuses on behaviour, sustainability and citizenship. The aims of Junior SAFEMark are to enable children to make informed transport choices and to provide children with the skills and knowledge to use public transport safely and sensibly.

The Junior SAFEMark workshops were held for one week in each district during the summer term. There are two workshops per day: morning 10-11.30 and afternoon 13.00 – 14.30. Between 30 and 60 children attended each workshop. During the workshop the children visited three different activities looking at:

• ‘How to catch a bus’: The bus operator ran this activity; An on-bus lesson in safe travel. Covering all the steps of a safe journey from queuing and boarding, through paying fares, use of emergency doors, to alighting safely and sensibly; The session was intended to be interactive, getting pupils to act out scenes activity link action with consequence. For example, children were allowed to sit in the drivers seat to view events from that perspective.
• ‘How to get around’: Metro staff ran this activity; A lesson on planning journeys by public transport; This was a classroom based activity. Worksheets took children through the steps of planning a journey using timetables. In addition children were taken in groups of 2-3 on to the laptop computer to plan a journey using Metro’s journey planner. A version of the journey planner was downloaded on to the laptop, as internet connection was not always reliable.
• ‘How to save the world’: Representatives from the District school travel planning and road safety teams ran this session; A session on the environmental impacts of transport choices; A customised ‘Fresco’ resource pack was used in this session; The ‘Fresco’ resource pack is a free standing, interactive activity with games and tasks relating transport to pollution and the environment, road safety, and health. Children have to find the answers and place magnetic answers on the correct places.

Junior SAFEMark is also developing a teacher and pupil education resource pack to give to schools after public transport travel and training lessons and issued the children with Mega Travel Cards, as demonstrated aside.

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