A breakthrough new artificial intelligence platform could provide the solution to Britain's worsening school run crisis, as vehicle trips to school have surged 23 per cent since 2005.
The Step platform, developed by UK startup HomeRun with Department for Transport funding, employs AI technology to chart pupils' travel patterns and identify optimal locations for walking routes, cycling infrastructure and public transport improvements.
The system addresses a transport challenge that sees the morning school drop-off account for the majority of rush hour traffic in cities such as London.
The tech works by analysing anonymised postcode data alongside behavioural, social and geographical factors to create comprehensive journey maps that enable councils to make evidence-based infrastructure investments without conducting expensive surveys.
Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing motoring@gbnews.uk
The AI tech hopes to reduce traffic near schools during peak rush hour
|HOME RUN
HomeRun's ambitious target seeks to slash the percentage of children driven to school from 37 per cent to below 10 per cent by 2035, potentially eliminating 650 million vehicle journeys.
The platform analyses multiple factors beyond simple route availability, examining whether existing transport options are genuinely practical for pupils to utilise. This comprehensive approach marks a significant advance from previous manual assessment methods that proved frequently inaccurate.
Local authorities can gain access to detailed insights revealing which routes experience the heaviest car dependency, where public transport provision falls short, and which investments in safer crossings, walking and cycling infrastructure, or subsidised bicycle programmes would deliver maximum benefit.
A free tier of the data will be available to transport planners, enabling targeted funding allocation to address what has remained an intractable transport challenge for decades.
The tech could help remove millions of car journeys across the UK
|HOME RUN
Essex County Council has emerged as an early adopter, utilising the AI tech to analyse travel patterns for more than 210,000 students across the county's 520 state schools.
The pilot programme transformed the council's capacity, as previously, just one officer covered all schools countywide, with resources to engage only 35 schools annually. The platform now provides comprehensive data-driven insights for every school in Essex.
This enhanced capability enabled Essex to submit a substantial funding application for 30 new School Streets initiatives, representing one of the most extensive programmes outside London. The county currently operates no School Streets schemes.
The AI-powered analysis performed countywide assessments that would have been impossible through traditional manual methods even five years ago, according to the platform's developers.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Helen Akpabio, Essex County Council's active travel manager, stated: "Step is allowing us to pinpoint the most effective interventions for our schools and identify the geographic areas where they will have the greatest impact, saving us time, money, and effort."
She highlighted the platform's equity benefits, noting that "all schools in Essex are assessed on a level playing field - no longer dependent on PTA enthusiasm or staff bandwidth".
Similarly, Tracey Vickers, the council's head of sustainable transport, added: "With Step, we finally have an evidence base of meaningful data to plan and justify our initiatives and enable families to take healthier, more active, journeys to school."
Campaign groups have welcomed the technology, with Francesca Agostini from Green School Runs describing herself as "blown away" by Step's capabilities.
Labour has been urged to adopt the AI platform across the UK to help reduce traffic jams
|HOME RUN
HomeRun's founder, Pooya Kamvari, emphasised that scaling Essex's results nationally could "slash peak-traffic emissions, and reshape communities around healthier, active, more sustainable transport".
The company has now urged Government action through several key measures. These include creating a comprehensive national school-run strategy and providing funding for councils to implement the AI platform across the country.
HomeRun also advocated for incentivising interventions according to demonstrable outcomes rather than mere activity levels, allowing councils to focus on schools and locations where transport mode changes are most feasible.
Additional recommendations include mandating private and independent school participation to address their disproportionate environmental impact, and backing supplementary tools such as the Step Parent Portal to deliver personalised behaviour change prompts to families.