The city of Sydney has welcomed its first car-free 'school street' around Fort Street Public School.
Transport for New South Wales and the City of Sydney made the decision to remove cars from the central Sydney school's surrounds during drop-off and pick-up times.
Car access has changed on Watsons Road and Upper Fort Street, which means students and their caregivers can now ride or walk to and from school without sharing the space with cars.
Fort Street Public School's gates are right beside the southern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Cycleway.
Prior to the designation of a 'school street', this was a crowded and dangerous area around school drop-off and pick-up times, with two-way vehicle traffic queuing to enter and leave the drop-off zone near the playground, cyclists and pedestrians struggling to safely get through, and small children to watch out for.
The situation was so sketchy it needed to be managed by two traffic controllers and two safety marshals.
After much campaigning by parents and local residents, supported by bodies including Bicycle NSW and WalkSydney, these issues have been resolved.
Parents can still pick up their children by car but must park 200 metres from the school in designated bays on Argyll Street.
'School streets' create a safer and less polluted environment for everyone, encouraging active transport to school.
Travelling actively to school contributes to students' recommended 60 minutes per day of physical activity, fosters spatial awareness and independence, and has even been linked to improved academic performance.
Bicycle Network runs its Open Streets program (part of Ride2School), which creates temporary car-free spaces around schools at drop-off and pick-up hour, specifically to encourage more students to travel actively to school.
School streets are growing increasingly popular worldwide. In Paris, there are now more than 300 school streets, part of the city's wide-scale effort to de-centre car travel.
Bicycle Network hopes this move in New South Wales will lead to the uptake of permanent car-free streets around schools elsewhere in Australia.
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