A Bus With No Wheels

Pictured: Tony McNulty sets off leading the biggest walking bus in Europe

A bus with a difference - where routes are all on the pavement and on foot - has taken on the school run in Knowsley to the delight of local school children.

The ‘walking bus’, complete with driver and conductor in full reflective gear, has four school runs - with bus stops - where pupils can change direction! The walking bus is run by two adults who walk to and from school from residential areas along a route that is specific and has been safety checked. They pick up and drop off children at school, sometimes using special ‘bus stops’ to enable them to change route if needed.

This initiative is the biggest walking bus scheme in Europe and the first in the UK to have bus stations.

At the recent launch of the Stockbridge Village Express, Regeneration Minister Tony McNulty said, “Working with neighbourhood wardens, the walking bus is an imaginative and healthy answer to reducing traffic congestion in Knowsley and is an idea that came from local people. Today's launch of Britain's biggest walking school bus will help to improve the environment and quality of life for everyone in the community. I hope to see many communities across the country setting up similar schemes.”

The idea first came from the neighbourhood wardens who developed the scheme and were partly responsible for finding the funding. Indeed, it was the wardens who provided the catalyst for the initiative to get off the ground.

Four local primary schools are involved - St Brigid’s, Brookside, Nine Trees and St Albert’s. Andy Millar who leads Knowsley Council’s Road Safety Team explains: "The scheme is two fold - to secure a safe and organised route to school for children in this area and to encourage people to leave their car behind on the school run and take the healthier option instead and let their feet do the walking!

“These measures have brought enormous benefits to the local community. Two of the ‘buses’ use an existing path linking two neighbourhoods. This was in disrepair and seldom used until we incorporated it into the school run and upgraded it with safety features including new lighting and fencing. Now it is not only used by the bus but by local people and older pupils attending the secondary school in nearby Huyton.”

Cllr Ron Round, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development, commented, “The whole idea is excellent. Not only does it give children a safe and healthy route into school but it has opened up the community and reduced road congestion. The original idea came from the neighbourhood wardens and I am proud to see it come to fruition and working so well.”