Children and parents at St Mary's Church of England Primary School in Southend will be sampling the latest form of school transport this week in a bid to improve road safety on school journeys.
They will be trying out the walking bus, made up of two volunteer parents who act as "driver" and "conductor" and escort a line of children on their way to school.
They walk a set route each day, collecting pupils at "bus stops" on the way.
A walking bus has two benefits - it is powered by legwork so it provides good physical exercise and by encouraging youngsters to walk in reduces the number of cars travelling to and from school each day.
Headteacher Frances Neal said: "The walking bus is a great innovation as it runs come rain or shine.
"The benefits for children's health are tremendous and those who walk to school are generally more alert and ready to learn first thing in the morning.
"As our school is in an area which suffers from road congestion, we hope this scheme will reduce traffic congestion for the good of both our children and the residents."
St Mary's will be the seventh school in the borough to develop a walking bus.
Published Wednesday, March 13, 2002
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