ACTIVE TRAVEL PLAN
May 2025
FOREWORD
In our commitment to support the development of a sustainable society we will aim to reduce carbon use and energy consumption throughout the School’s operations. As transport represents one of the key areas of carbon use, we are fully committed to the long-term commitment to our Active Travel Plan, a key tool to achieving more sustainable transport serving the Academy and carbon reduction.
While we recognise that car use can’t be eliminated our plan very much looks to develop on the great work, we have already achieved to provide alternatives to the car and to travel in a more sustainable way to the Academy.
Our Plan is aimed at all users of the Academy; parents, pupils, staff and visitors and we hope you will be as fully committed to its delivery as we will be.
Robin Pyper, Deputy Rector
OUR TRAVEL PLAN
ObjectivesandStrategies
TheAcademyissituatedina70-acrecampusboundtothenorthbyBack RoadandDollarGolfCourseontheslopingOchilHills.Totheeast,south andwest,residentialpropertiesandthemainthoroughfareofBridge St/HarviestounRdprovideabuiltenclosuretothecampus.MylneAvenue runslinearlyfromHarviestounRdtotheheartofthecampusandprovides primaryaccesstothegrounds.
TheAcademyisaco-educationalindependentschoolhometoabout1,350 pupils,supportedby250staff(150teachersand100supportstaff)with facilitiesforamixofbothdayandboardingstudents,betweentheagesof5 and18inthreecohorts;Prep,JuniorandSenioreducation.100boarding pupilsliveonourcampus,alongsideboardinghousestaff.Schoolhoursare 0835to1530fivedaysaweek;inaddition,theSchooloffersaround120 additionalafterschoolactivitiesduringtheweekwhichextendstheSchool dayto1700.TravellingtotheAcademyhasanimpactontheenvironment anditistheintentionofthisTravelPlantostatehowthisimpactcanbe kepttoaminimum.
TravelPlanMeasuresandInitiatives
ATravelPlanisalong-termmanagementstrategyfortravelofthoseliving oroccupyingvisitorfacilities,aplaceofworkorahome.Theyareuniqueto eachsitewiththeoverallaimtominimisetheimpactoftravelonthe environment,aidinthereductionofemissionsandreducecongestion.This planislimitedtotheAcademy’ssiteanditsimmediatesurroundingand whileincludingthosetravellingtoandfromthesiteexcludestransportto otherschoolsandsites.ThecompleteTravelPlanisavailableseparately; thisdocumentrepresentsanexecutivesummaryoftheplan.
Travel Plan Objectives
The setting of objectives is the first stage in the development of the travel plan. The objectives will form the basis for identifying initiatives to reduce the impact of travel to the site. The objectives are as follows:
To encourage the use of alternative modes of transport to the private car for all journeys to/from the Academy;
To ease congestion and reduce environmental impacts of traffic by better managing of private car usage to/from the Academy;
To deliver long-term commitment to changing travel habits by minimising the journeys to/from the Academy made by single occupancy and single passenger carrying cars while maximising the proportion of trips made by public transport, car share, foot or cycle.
To educate and communicate to pupils, parents, staff and visitors regarding the benefits of changing travel habits.
Policy Context
In developing this plan, we have reviewed national, regional and local transport strategies and have incorporated their over-arching aims and objectives with the aim to tackle traffic growth and congestion around the campus, encouraging greater use of walking, cycling and public transport and removing barriers to using public transport.
National Context
National Transport Strategy 2 (2020)
Active Travel Vision and Frameworks
Scottish Planning Policy
Central Scotland Green Network
Regional Context
SEStran Regional Transport Strategy (RTS)
Local Context
Clackmannanshire Local Transport Strategy
Clackmannanshire Active Travel Strategy
TRAVELLING TO THE ACADEMY
We undertook surveys to establish the current position of how parents and staff travel to school. Nearly two thirds of pupils arrive at the School by sustainable means with 46% by bus or coach and 19% walking or cycling, the remainder by car.
22% of the pupils live within two miles of the School of which 90% of these choose to walk to school the remainder travelling by car. An estimated 328 cars bring pupils to the site of which 55% arrive in cars carrying more than one pupil boosting the average passengers to 2.15 per car.
In comparison two thirds of staff drive to school in single occupancy vehicles, which could potentially mean 163 cars parked cars on site, although this is likely to be a between 80-100.
Staff and parents additionally park on West Burnside and the surrounding streets including Back Road. Parents with children attending the Prep School are allowed to drop-off their child(ren) on the Back Road between 0845 and 0900 and collect them at the end of the day, however this area becomes highly congested, so parents and staff are reminded to park in other areas and ‘park and stride’ to/from the Academy.
OTHER MODES OF TRANSPORT
WALKING
CAR (DRIVER)
CAR (PASSENGER)
BUS AND COACH
STAFF/PUPILS MAIN MODE OF TRAVEL
Car Sharing
To help reduce car use, the Academy invested in a car sharing app that is open to all parents and staff. The HomeRun app creates a secure dedicated space that promotes sustainable means of travel to the School in addition to arranging car sharing there is also the ability to arrange walking and cycling groups.
276 parents are registered on the app, while membership has grown by 38% since autumn 2022 there has been very little growth in the last year. Staff numbers have remained low with only 20 registered, this figure has remained constant over the past 2 years.
Currently of those parents registered only 13% are car sharing, this is against 79% of those registered who state they are open to doing so.
Walking
With a quarter of the pupils (including boarders) currently living within two miles of the campus which is accessible by safe pedestrian footways just 18% walk to school.
However, it is estimated that some parents still choose to drive the short distance, this was estimated at 30 vehicles. While it is believed that this is a combination of the need to carry kit, forms part of an onward journey, perceived safety concerns and the weather.
Cycling
The entire Dollar settlement is within a 5- minute cycle of the School although direct access to the campus is by road as the nearest off road cycle route is to the south of the A91 (NCN 767 Devon Way - above) which is 650m from the campus. The off-road cycle network from Dollar is well linked with the rest of Clackmannanshire.
The NCN767 provides a route along the old railway line to Tillicoultry and onwards to Alloa and more routes are planned. The Academy has recently installed new storage lockers, along with changing and shower facilities for both pupils and staff. A cycle to work scheme has been introduced for staff.
Public Transport
The Academy campus is served directly by a combination of contracted coach services and service buses operating during Dollar Academy terms times only. Contracted services or closed contracts are restricted to Dollar Academy pupils only, while service buses are open to the public. This extensive public transport network ensures that 46% of pupils travel to school by bus or coach.
In addition to direct services to the Academy campus, Dollar is served by services along Bridge Street (A91) to and from Forth Valley Hospital via Alloa and additional services to Tillicoultry and Kinross. Both contracted coach and service buses stop within the campus along Mylne Avenue. Although this is a two-way street it can only accommodate one way operation at school times with all vehicles operating clockwise exiting via McNabb Street to join Bridge Street.
In addition to establishing the current position we used the surveys to find out how we could change the behaviour of pupils, parents and staff travelling to school and so reducing car use. We have done this by establishing a series of interventions and initiatives that will address the key alternatives. These include:
Walking & Pedestrian:
Providing safe walking routes via:
Additional crossing points on West Burnside,
Preventing parking on pavements on both West Burnside and Back Road,
Reducing vehicle speeds around the School, and
Providing additional street lighting.
Bus & Coach
Requests were for safe, reliable, faster and more direct bus and coach services. Although 46% of all pupils at some point use the bus and coach to/from school, pupils average weekly use is 4.2/10 possible journeys.
Current capacity is 89% on all the closed contracts with certain routes at capacity, so increasing this use will require an increase in capacity. This would only become ‘viable’ if each extra vehicle ran full. We therefore will be considering:
Several alternatives to make bus and coach more attractive, More direct services.
INTERVENTIONS & INITIATIVES
Car Use
It is recognised that cars will remain one of the main modes of transport as no other alternatives would be available, the surveys revealed that 39% of pupils arrived at school by car, however while over half (55%) of those did travel in vehicles carrying two or more passengers.
It is therefore the remaining 45% of cars with just one pupil that will be our target to reduce car use. Two thirds of staff arrive by car of which 97% travel alone.
We will therefore further promote the benefits of car sharing in reducing car use and the HomeRun app. The staff survey also identified if the availability of pool car(s) would alter their decision to car share, two thirds responded positively, so we intend to investigate this further.
With the high car usage at school concentrated into short periods, the surrounding streets of the Academy become congested, this is accentuated by parents illegally parking. We therefore will:
promote the HomeRun app. for both parents and staff, noting the users’ current concerns of lack of lifts and guaranteed lift home, consider use of pool cars for car sharing, and liaise with the Council to reduce illegal parking around the campus.
Cycling:
Safe route from Devonway cycle path to the Academy.
TPM - TRAVEL PLAN MEASURES AND INITIATIVES
We have identified twelve measures and initiatives to meet the objectives of the plan (see table overleaf) although listed individually they will be more effective when delivered as a package of measures and applied to staff, parents, pupils and staff (unless stated) with the aim of increasing the numbers and frequency of those walking, cycling, using the bus & coach or car sharing in travelling to and from the Academy.
To monitor the measure and initiatives we have set several targets which we aim to deliver within 12 months.
TPM1: Travel Plan Team
Pupils, parents, staff & visitors
TPM2: Promotion, Information & Communication
Pupils, parents, staff & visitors
TPM3: Safe Walking Routes
Pupils & staff
TPM4: Safe Cycling Routes Pupils & staff
TPM5: Cycling infrastructure Pupils & staff
TPM6: Staff discounts Staff
TPM7: Bus & Coach fares & route review
Appoint a Travel plan team to deliver the travel plan
Develop a Communication Plan to promote, inform and communicate the travel plan.
Review walking routes and liaise with local authority and agencies where upgrading is required.
Review cycling routes and liaise with local authority and agencies where upgrading / linking to the academy is required.
Identify infrastructure and funding for cycling including lockers, storage and tool stations.
Undertake a feasibility study into providing discounts to staff on the purchase of walking and cycling equipment to aid the increase in active travel
Pupils & parents 10% increase in average daily coach usage
Pupils & parents
95% of bus & coach journeys arriving in Mylne Avenue within 5 mins of the scheduled arrival time.
