Pune, 7th August 2023: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken a significant leap forward in its commitment to provide safe and secure school travel for every child. With an aim to revolutionize the way students commute to educational institutions, PMC has collaboratively formulated a comprehensive set of guidelines as part of its expansive School Travel Improvement Plan. These guidelines have been meticulously crafted through a collaborative effort involving schools, educational institutions, technical experts, and civil society groups.
The core of this transformative effort lies in the newly introduced ‘School Priority Zone Guidelines’, an extensive document that has been methodically compiled by the PMC road department. This document draws its strength from thorough analysis of the city’s mobility data, detailed surveys, and constructive dialogues with various stakeholders within the education sector. A notable revelation from the data analysis is that a substantial 43% of educational journeys are completed on foot, while bicycles account for 4% of trips. However, the comprehensive assessment has also underscored several pressing mobility challenges that need to be addressed urgently. These challenges include unsafe street infrastructure, difficulties in road crossing, encroachments on parking spaces, inadequate lighting, and undesirable activities around school premises.
The ‘School Priority Zone Guidelines’ lay out a pragmatic and scalable framework for addressing these challenges. These solutions have been nurtured and refined through the collaborative Pedestrian Week of 2022 and further validated through trials involving diverse schools. The proposed solutions encompass a wide spectrum of improvements, ranging from bolstering road safety measures to introducing traffic moderation initiatives, upgrading signage, and establishing better resting areas. PMC’s proactive approach is evident in its identification of 19 priority zones within the city, where concentrated efforts will be directed to implement these innovative safety measures.
Key aspects of the action plan include the stringent enforcement of speed limits, effective management of on-street parking, imposition of bans on liquor and tobacco sales near schools during school hours, and a focused enhancement of bus services to cater to the transportation needs of students.
The unveiling of these comprehensive guidelines marks a significant step forward in ensuring that every student’s journey to school is safe, secure, and devoid of unnecessary obstacles. PMC’s visionary approach, backed by diligent research and collaboration, sets a remarkable precedent for other cities to follow in their pursuit of enhancing student safety during their commutes.
