Nearly half of school leaders see electric buses as future of school travel

Nearly half (45.2%) of school leaders believe that electric buses will be the next great differentiator in home-to-school travel, over reduced car use and more pupils walking to school.

This is according to new research from school transport technology specialist Kura. Out of the 250 school leaders surveyed, 11.2% worked in independent schools and most worked in state schools.

One in five schools (21.6%) have already put in place plans to introduce electric transport into their fleets over the coming years. However, only 18% have intentions to explore this area in the future.

A fifth of schools (21.6%) cited cost as a barrier to implementation and further one in eight schools (12.4%) highlighted a lack of supporting infrastructure, such as charging points, as an issue.

Despite nearly a third of schools (31.2%) already investing in measures to improve their carbon footprint, electric transport was not seen as a priority by 12.4% of schools, rising to 17.4% of independent schools.

Godfrey Ryan, CEO of Kura, said: “We have seen a growing trend in schools looking to proactively combat the environmental danger of the school run, however, more must be done to meet rising pupil and parental expectations if schools are to remain ahead of the curve.

“The move towards electric cars will go some of the way towards solving the issue but, speaking realistically, schools must do more to take cars off the road altogether, from both a congestion and pupil safety perspective – for which sustainable shared transport is key.”

In Kura’s Green School Run Guide – a survey of 1,000 UK parents with school-age children – it was clear that parents with children at independent schools found the school run to be among the most difficult aspects of their daily routine, more so than parents with children at other types of schools.

For example, 55% of parents with children at independent schools expressed a need for the school run to be made easier and less stressful, compared to 34% of parents with children in other schools.

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