The City of Erlangen aims to promote car-free mobility among children and adolescents. In particular, the mobility habits learned during childhood have a formative influence on transportation behavior in adulthood. The walk to school is a crucial factor in this regard.
Walking offers schoolchildren benefits such as
- improved concentration in class
- time to build social connections
- training in traffic safety.
Nevertheless, children are increasingly being driven to and from school by car. This leads to heavy morning drop-off and pick-up traffic in front of schools and causes significant disruptions and hazards for schoolchildren.
A marked drop-off and pick-up zone (Photo: City of Erlangen)
The goal of drop-off and pick-up zones is to
- prevent stopping and parking directly in front of the school and
- thereby improve traffic safety.
They are being gradually implemented at schools in Erlangen.
Furthermore, students who are dropped off by car are encouraged to walk a short distance before classes begin. To support this, classroom activities and comprehensive information for parents and children highlight the use of the drop-off and pick-up zones and promote walking.
In the spring of 2018, a drop-off and pick-up zone was established as a pilot project for the Loschge Elementary School on Theaterplatz. This has led to a significant reduction in car traffic directly in front of the school on Loschgestraße. Due to the positive results, drop-off and pick-up zones were also established at
- the Michael-Poeschke Elementary School
- the Adalbert-Stifter Elementary School
- the Max and Justine Elsner Elementary School, and
- the Friedrich-Rückert Elementary School.
So far, the experiences at all evaluated schools have been positive. Therefore, the city of Erlangen intends to implement the program at additional elementary schools.
