School roads, a solution against pollution and accidents

Italy lags behind the rest of Europe on school roads, which can contribute to developing sustainable and zero-emission mobility.Let's see how.

School streets for children and families, that is pedestrianized spaces around the institutes to limit motor vehicle traffic through the creation of pedestrian and cycle areas.In some European countries it is a consolidated reality which in Italy, however, is struggling to take off;even if in recent times something is finally moving.The theme is at the center of the mobilization “Streets for kids”, the campaign coordinated by the coalition Clean Cities with many initiatives planned throughout the peninsula:in Rome, Milan, Turin, Trento, Genoa, Parma, Verona, Modena and Naples, pedibuses, flash mobs with traffic blocks, pedestrianization parties, creation of school squares, games and workshops in front of schools were organised.The next mobilization is scheduled for November 24 on the occasion of 10 years of “bike to school”, the days in which parents organize themselves to accompany their children to school, cycling together:the group of people who cycle on the street protects children, while at the same time stimulating autonomy, sociability and active mobility.

The advantages of school roads

Children are more vulnerable to air pollution than adults: the European Environment Agency has certified that more are registered every year in Europe 1,200 premature deaths, under the age of 18, due to pollution.In the classrooms and schoolyards of our cities, the concentrations of pollutants far exceed the limits imposed by Europe, as recorded by the latest campaign No2 No Thanks of Citizens for the Air.From this point of view, school roads can offer immediate benefits for the health of children, thanks to the reduction of air pollution near schools and beyond:in fact, they encourage families to switch from the car to traveling on foot, by bike or by public transport.In short, they are a fundamental piece for development sustainable mobility and zero emissions, to put space for people at the center of attention and reduce the centrality of the car in our cities.

Last year they were estimated approximately 1,250 school streets in Europe.The cities and regions that achieved the best results were London (over 600), Barcelona (over 210), Flanders (over 170) and Paris (over 100).Focusing on our country, we are not talking about a recent phenomenon:the first school streets were born in Bolzano way back in 1989.Yet it took another 30 years before the movement took hold elsewhere, with projects in Parma and Milan.But it is only now that, thanks also to the push of the #StreetsForKids events organized since November 2021, the trend seems decidedly reversed:the mayors of Rome and Milan recently announced the construction of 110 new school streets and 87 "Open squares for every school" respectively.

The cases of Rome and Milan

 The number of road collisions involving young people a Rome it's impressive:according to the ACI-Istat report on road accidents, on average one in two schools has had at least one student injured in a road accident in the last year.In 2022, 914 minors were road victims, of which 208 were pedestrians, 490 involved as passengers in a car, moped or bicycle accident, 216 as drivers driving mopeds, bicycles and scooters and 3 minors who died in accidents as drivers and transported .The request addressed by Clean Cities to the 15 Municipalities of Rome Capital is to make the streets safe and accessible to all so that girls and boys can go to school on foot, by bicycle and on a scooter every day, without being forced to breathe polluted air and cross dangerous roads.Despite the Memo approved by the Capitoline Council for the construction of 110 school roads, partly fixed and partly temporary, at the moment some have been built only 7.

TO Milan, However, in February 2022 the Municipality launched the tender “Squares open for every school” for the construction of school roads.They were introduced 87 projects involving 250 Milanese schools with the support of 600 local entities.The proposed projects and activities are the result of a voluntary commitment, dedicated by people to the city because they saw the Municipality's announcement as an important opportunity to change their neighborhood.But here too, out of 706 schools only 10 have so far been pedestrianized and transformed into school streets, as well as around thirty streets which are "car free" only during the entry and exit times of boys and girls.This concerns just 6 percent of schools, while in Barcelona school streets cover 29 percent of schools, in London 26 percent and in Paris 18 percent.