Active transport

 These include ‘walking school buses’ for primary school students and the ‘Happy Feet’ programme for pre-schoolers. 

Talk to your primary or pre-school about these initiatives and get your child involved. These healthier and more sustainable alternatives to being driven to and from school are a great way to teach young children about road safety – and they’re a great way to connect with others and have some fun on the way to school!

These initiatives help:

• children to arrive at school on time, refreshed and ready to go
• ease congestion at pre-school/school gates
• promote sustainable travel habits
• get regular exercise into daily travel
• children meet new friends
• children learn how to cross roads safely and develop independence
• parents save money on petrol and vehicle running costs
• reduce air pollution and carbon emissions

Walking school buses

A ‘walking school bus’ is a group of children who walk to and from school supervised by one or more adult volunteers. 

Here’s how a walking school bus works:

• Like a real bus, it travels at a set time and children join or leave the bus at designated stops. 
• Younger children can walk to and from school safely every day, while older children can take on the responsibility of becoming the bus’s ‘deputy driver’.  Some children may have siblings that  choose to scoot or skate - and that’s fine for them to join the walking school bus group
• Just ask your school to register your child on a walking school bus route, and they’ll provide you with all the information you need from there.
• Have a think about how you might encourage your children to walk to school – either through our walking school buses, or in general – have a chat to us too about this, if you wish.

To start up a Walking School Bus in your school, contact our School Travel Coordinator through our Customer Service team by calling 07 838 6699 during office hours, emailing info@hcc.govt.nz, or use the Antenno App to contact them (available to download free on the App Store or Google Play).

Contact your local school and ask them whether they have a walking bus. If so, register your child on it. You may also be able to request a map showing its route.

Happy Feet Programme

‘Happy Feet’ is a fun and active transport pre-school programme targeting three- to five-year olds. The programme involves walking, scooting or balance biking the last two to five minutes of the journey to pre-school.

Here’s how Happy Feet works:

• Pre-schools identify safe ‘park and stride’ locations
• Every child is given a 'ticket'
• Every Happy Feet trip to and from pre-school is acknowledged with a 'clip' on the ticket.
• Each milestone clip is recognised with a sticker on the progress chart (10, 20, 30…)
• Every full ticket is recognised with a Happy Feet small prize.

To get a Happy Feet Programme up and running at your pre-school, contact our School Travel Coordinator through our Customer Service team by calling 07 838 6699 during office hours, emailing info@hcc.govt.nz, or use the Antenno App to contact them (available to download free on the App Store or Google Play).​