Way2Go program aims to make it easier and safer for children, families and communities to be able to choose walking, bike riding and public transport for their daily travel, including school journeys. An evidence-based approach helps to understand what shapes travel choices and how behaviour changes over time.

Collecting information helps schools to understand local travel patterns, identify barriers to active travel, plan strategically for improvement, measure progress and track actual behaviour change. A range of tools are used to gather this evidence, with the Way2Go team providing detailed reports, maps and feedback.

• Surveys

  Surveys provide a snapshot of current travel choices, preferences and attitudes of students, teachers and families in your school community. They help identify patterns that inspire actions and are used to track changes over time.

  For schools participating in 2026, links to surveys are provided directly to the school.

• Discussions

  Focus teachers consult with school leadership and staff. These discussions help prioritise actions within the School Travel Plan. Observations of the local road safety issues from a school perspective can assist the review of school travel routes.

• Observations

  Way2Go staff and local government officers observe school drop off and pick up including the use of crossings, crossing points and school crossing monitors. A report is prepared that includes recommendations for action. Signage locations are identified.

• Student counts

  Schools can include student collected data as part of the development of the School Travel Plan.

  The collection process and analysis can be integrated into the curriculum to deliver the literacy and numeracy learning intentions and / or linked to Way2Go Bike Ed. Students record the number of bicycles, scooters or skateboards stored at school on a given day or over a week taking note of the day, date and other relevant details such as the weather. This data is collated either by the teacher or as part of a class activity.

• School context review

  The Way2Go team consults with school leadership, local government, school governing council and focus teachers about school transport conditions. This provides background for observations of student, parent and others' behaviour and assists local council with the determination of priorities for local area improvements.

• GIS maps of student travel patterns

  The Way2Go team provides GIS maps using student residential locations. The maps provide a visual representation of student school travel routes and the proportion of children who have realistic opportunities for active travel to school.

• Research

  Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents‘ decision making?

  Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents’ decision making? presents key findings and recommendations aimed at providing an evidence-based understanding of what influences parents’ decision making around primary school children’s active travel choices for the school commute.

  Research was undertaken by Dr Jan Garrard, Research, Evaluation and Active Transport Consultant, Deakin University, for the South Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), May 2017.

  Key findings and recommendations for consideration:

  • Support for active travel to school is high amongst both children and parents. This includes those parents who regularly drive their children to and from school.
  • Travel time (and parents’ perceptions of the relative travel times for active travel and travel by car) is the key consideration for parents, especially for those who walk or cycle with their child to school.
  • Parent-accompanied and children’s independent active travel to school have different barriers and require different approaches in order for them to occur regularly.
    • For parent-accompanied active travel to school important considerations include travel time; parental commitments and associated trip-chaining; parents’ use of active travel for other (non-school) purposes; enjoyment of the walking or cycling trip to school, and having a pleasant route to school.
    • For children’s independent travel to school, child readiness, traffic safety and personal safety are key considerations, with traffic safety overwhelmingly the main factor.
  • Parents assess traffic safety and personal safety from both an actual and perceived perspective both of which need to be addressed.
  • Parents' personal use of active transport to work and other neighbourhood destinations supports both parent-accompanied and independent active travel to school.
  • School support for active travel, and participation in active travel programs and activities, together with wider community support for active travel assists in increasing active travel to school.
  • Consistent messages from school principals, teachers, local government, police, community leaders, and the media that active travel to school is safe, normal, and widely supported will assist in increasing active travel to school.

  Clickable links to PDF’s:

  1. Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents’ decision making? – Key findings and recommendations
  2. Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents’ decision making? – Literature review
  3. Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents’ decision making? – Literature review (Summary of key findings)
  4. Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents’ decision making? – Focus group discussion report
  5. Walking, riding or driving to school: what influences parents’ decision making? – Online survey report