This week begins the 2019-2020 school period, which will last until July of next year. With the classes, a season begins in which buses will make around 280 million trips and transport more than 235 million schoolchildren (235,383,000 in 2018, according to INE statistics). Currently, there are around 17,500 buses in Spain dedicated to school transport, a type of transport that accounts for 13% of the total turnover of the bus sector (one).
Since its foundation, CONFEBUS advocates the promotion of school transport as a measure to improve urban traffic and, consequently, reduce levels of air pollution. The agglomeration and collapse of certain arteries of cities at peak times has to do in part with the massive use of the private vehicle for the entrance and collection of schoolchildren.
"Facilitating a generalized and efficient school transport model would save traffic vehicles and reduce externalities such as the loss of time during peak hours, accidents and GHG emissions," says Rafael Barbadillo, president of the Confederation. However, the Administration plays a decisive role in promoting this mode of transport: “It would be necessary to integrate school transport into Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans and generate appropriate regulatory frameworks to generate the transfer of the private vehicle to the school bus, guaranteeing the quality of service, ”he concludes.
On the other hand, the bus is one of the safest ways to travel by road: it is 21 times safer than a car in terms of number of injuries and 24 times safer in terms of the number of fatalities in accidents. Even so, CONFEBUS recalls the vital importance of Road Education, which, once again, requires the initiative of institutions and schools. As the Guide for the prevention of accidents in the school transport of the DGTApart from the driver, parents or guardians of schoolchildren, companions, and teachers, who have a duty to promote Road Education, have a very important role in school transportation.
In short, school transport not only guarantees the mobility of students, but its use also contributes to the decongestion of urban centers, the sustainability of the environment and the safety of people.
(1) 2018 Statistics of products in the INE Services Sector