DULWICH
Case study
Renowned for its schools, thousands of school run car trips flood into Dulwich each day.
But it's changing...
How it started.
Each day our journey to school in West Dulwich, South East London, involved walking down roads alongside 800 cars per hour. Dangerous, polluted and stressful. However, the roads were transformed during the school holidays. What was going on? It couldn't just be the school run.. Could it? We decided to examine the situation...
What did we find?
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30-60% of pupils in Dulwich wards are at private schools compared to a 7% national average. Private schools admit pupils from beyond the local area and therefore these children have longer distances to travel.
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Two Dulwich state schools are non-catchment meaning there admission policies draw in pupils from beyond the local area (non-catchment). This includes Kingsdale, one of the largest secondary schools in London and Judith Kerr, a small primary language school.​
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Approximately 9,000 children travel twice a day, to and from Dulwich non-catchment primary and secondary schools from all over London. Primary school children travel in from Tooting, Bermondsey, Beckenham, secondary age pupils from even further afield.
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Longer school journeys means they are more difficult and inconvenient for families to travel sustainably. In fact the National Travel Survey data shows that in London 65% of primary school pupils travelling 1-2 miles to their schools are driven vs 7% of primary pupils travelling under 1 mile.
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So there are a high number of school run car trips into Dulwich wards each day.
What did this level of school run driving mean?
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Our research released in January 2025 correlated air pollution and school bus times with the school term times of both state and private schools in the area.
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We found that there is a 50% increase in nitrogen dioxide air pollution and a similar 50% delay to bus times between 7-10 am in school term time compared with the school holidays.
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Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), a damaging air pollutant which comes from burning car fuel, went up by 16% when state schools are in term, but that surged to 47% when private schools then also returned.
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At the same time that this volume of cars on the school run is creating congestion and pollution, thousands of children are walking and cycling to school.
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It's a dangerous and toxic combination of children and cars. ​
But it's changing...
In the last 5 years a significant number of streets around schools have been prioritised for families walking and cycling at peak times. We've also seen cycle lanes installed and targeted parking controls go in around schools. There has been what fees like a seismic shift in the number of cargo bikes in the area ferrying children to and from school. Below are some of the projects and campaigns we've run locally to enable sustainable school runs.
School Streets
Large sections of the road network are being restricted to motor vehicles at pick up and drop off time to prioritise the majority of pupils who walk and cycle to school. Our first campaign was for an ambitious school street around Rosendale School & adjacent Turney SEND School in Dulwich. Using ANPR cameras, the program prioritises approximately 2km of routes across 3 roads into the school for safe walking and cycling.
Cargo Bikes
Cargo bikes have appeared everywhere in Dulwich, enabled by the large stretches of road network that are now prioritised for walking and cycling at pick up and drop off. Cargo bikes are perfect for journeys between 1-2 miles, or hillier areas where it can be tricker for young children to cycle themselves. We promote them through our Cargos and Cakes events and we campaign for measures to reduce barriers to use, such as safe on-street storage of cargo bikes and community-bike hire schemes like Our Bike.
Safe routes into the school street
School streets are great, but children have to be able to reach them safely. To do this, one of the (many) things they need is safe crossings. Alongside other local groups we are campaigning for zebra crossings on the road parallel to the school street. This project has now received funding from Transport for London for the design stage and we await implementation.
Controlled parking zones (CPZs)
Enforced restricted parking areas keep junctions and sight lines clear for children to cross roads and prevent parents from parking dangerously. Parking restrictions targeting school run hours can also act as a deterrent to parents to drive, (particularly in conjunction with school streets), and generate more demand for sustainable travel options. In Dulwich for example this could be mini buses for junior independent schools. Along with other groups we successfully campaigned for CPZs around school destinations.
Junior school, chaperoned mini-buses
School driving rates are highest among junior school pupils who live within 1-3 miles of the schools. The current school coaches into Dulwich don't service these areas well (they focus on 3-9 mile distances), and are aimed at secondary age pupils. They are therefore not popular or well used by junior school parents, accounting for around just 5% of prep school travel. We have a valued open dialogue with Dulwich College to try to progress with a chaperoned mini-bus service aimed at prep school pupils.
Car-sharing
We've worked closely with HomeRun who run a journey sharing app for schools alongside a data platform. We successfully lobbied 3 Dulwich schools to roll out the app as a trial that would establish a car-sharing community to reduce car trips. This initiative didn't gain momentum because (like most behaviour change schemes) it needed sustained effort and resources. But there are independent schools who successfully champion car sharing as part of their sustainable travel mix so it is worth keeping in mind.
