THE Government is attempting to take action to stop millions of parents chauffeuring their children to and from school and causing traffic congestion. As the Government puts the finishing touches to its integrated transport policy white paper due to be published next month, Transport Minister Gavin Strang has announced the establishment of a School Travel Advisory Group.

And one of the first tasks of the new group will be to oversee further work on what measures have the greatest impact on reducing car use for school journeys. The company car has, in the eyes of the fleet industry, been wrongly targeted by many outside the industry as the cause of much traffic congestion, but many company drivers believe real congestion is caused by the school run.

The chief aim of the group will be to promote safer alternatives to the car for school journeys which will see children being encouraged to walk or cycle along 'safe' routes as well as increasing use of buses. The RAC calculates that about 20% of cars in the morning rush hour are involved in the school run.