How significant is the school run?

[26th March] We’ve had several months now where schools have been completely shut as a result of the pandemic. Primary schools across NI have now returned fully, while secondary pupils in years 8 to 11 are expected to join their older counterparts after Easter. We all know peak traffic times prior to Covid were around 8-9am and 3-6pm, as commuters and school drop offs coincided. With fewer commuters on the roads now, how does this affect school traffic.

81.5% of NI journeys are by car

According to a report by Ulster University’s Unesco Education Centre, in Northern Ireland, the average person makes 81.5% of all journeys by car, much higher than the UK as a whole (63%) or the Republic of Ireland (just over 50%). The rural nature of NI may play some part in this, but so too does the centralisation of employment in Belfast. The increase in car use within the city has led to it being one of the most congested in Europe.

The main mode of transport for primary school pupils is car, increasing from 59% in 2013/14 to 68% in 2019/20. The trend for post-primary school journeys has been less marked, however it has increased to 33% (up 3% in the same period). NI has the highest percentage of travel to school by bus (31%), higher than even London (29%).

130,177,516 extra miles on the school run

Schooling in NI is fragmented, and often children don’t attend their closest school due to community affiliation. This adds significantly to travel times, calculated by Ulster University to equal an extra 130 million miles more than necessary every year, the majority of which is completed by car or bus. This figure representants 40 million more ‘wasted’ miles than the distance from Earth to the Sun, and is the equivalent of an extra 10,000 cars on the road.

As a nation of drivers, undertaking millions of extra driving miles every year, the reality for brands is that school traffic forms a large proportion of potential customers. Every school run exposes the audience to Out of Home formats, the billboard on the main road or the 6 Sheet at the bus stop outside the school gates. Additionally, the frequency of journeys increases the number of times a campaign is seen, building recall and awareness.