Primary school children can now become real-life school run superheroes, thanks to the Government’s new junior active travel inspectors scheme.
Under the first-of-its-kind initiative, primary school children will be able to shape their own travel to school.
Each participating school will recruit a team of junior active travel inspectors, who will work with teachers and parents to assess local walking and cycling routes around their schools.
They will use this data to identify barriers to healthier journeys and suggest ideas to encourage more active and safer travel to school.
In collaboration with Active Travel England and Modeshift STARS, the junior active travel inspectors will then report on areas for improvement using a bespoke, child-friendly version of ATE’s inspection checklist.
Around 40% of primary school children and 25% of secondary school pupils are currently driven to school and school drop-offs account for around 25% of peak morning traffic in London – even more elsewhere around the country.
Heidi Alexander, transport secretary, visited Hollybush Primary School in Hertford to mark the launch of the scheme.
School run superheroes are here! Junior Active Travel Inspectors are empowered to identify where changes are needed to make it easier and safer to walk, wheel, scoot or cycle to school.@Heidi_Labour @Chris_Boardman visited a school to take part in a @TeamModeshift inspection ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/wePyMozarZ
— Active Travel England (@activetraveleng) July 18, 2025
Heidi Alexander said: “Walking, scooting and cycling to work and school has many benefits, to the economy, to congestion, air quality and physical and mental health. We want to make sure that more children and families can take advantage.
“We’re putting young people at the heart of our Active Travel mission, and delivering this innovative new scheme will help councils make smarter decisions, improve local infrastructure, and support our Plan for Change by boosting local economies and easing pressure on the NHS.”
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