Islanders urged to try alternative travel methods

Islanders in Guernsey and Jersey are being urged to try alternative modes of transport, as part of a week-long campaign.

Better Journeys Week - previously known as Alternative Transport Week is running this week and encourages people to leave their cars at home and use the bus, cycle or walk to work or school.

As part of the initiative by the Better Journeys Project new signs have been installed around St Peter Port and St Helier, to show how long it takes to walk or cycle from key locations into the town centre.

The project first launched in 2021 and this year marks the first time the two islands have come together under one banner to promote sustainable travel.

The project said signs were located along popular commuter routes and outside residential areas.

They added that the focus is on "long-term behaviour change" and the positive impacts of "better travel habits".

Rollo de Sausmarez, director of the Better Journeys project in Guernsey, said he hoped the signs prompted "more islanders to leave the car at home and take a better journey".

Kate Huntington, Jersey director, added; "Whether it's a 10-minute bike ride or a 15-minute walk, these signs are a simple but effective way to show people that active travel is an option, not just during Better Journeys Week, but throughout the year."

Schools have been encouraging parents to take their children to school actively.

Vicki Charlesworth, the head teacher of Les Landes School in Jersey started the cycling crocodile scheme in 2021, which allows children a chance to travel to school actively but safely.

She said students enjoy walking and cycling to school and that it helped set them up for a "successful day of learning".

While Claire Giles the head teacher at St Martin's Primary School in Guernsey, said they had supported the project since it first started and that students "wanted to actively travel to school".

She said the school was the first in the bailiwick to have a "school street" which sees the road running past its main entrance shut for half an hour before and after school.

Ms Giles said "95% of children come to school actively already" and that she has noticed a difference in students "physical and mental health".

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