2024 'Road Safety' Category Winner

City of Gold Coast, QLD

Active School Travel Program

2023 ‘Road Safety’ Category Winner

The Initiative

The City of Gold Coast, Active School Travel (AST) program, established in 2012, is an innovative behaviour change initiative dedicated to fostering safe and active travel for primary school students.

The City has partnered with over 50 Primary Schools, equipping children and school communities with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate their journeys to school safely.

The key road safety initiatives the AST Program delivers are:

  1. Zero the hero: The program's road safety mascot is, Zero the hero - his name derived from the program's aspiration: zero road fatalities around schools.
  2. Road safety animations: The program has developed two road safety animations to be shown at school assemblies. These educate children on the best way to cross the road when actively travelling; STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, THINK, and were designed to be both educational and engaging.
  3. Riding Rulz: This program was developed by the City and is delivered specifically to AST schools on the Gold Coast. The 5–session program is aimed at students in years 5 and 6 teaching them skills to cycle safely and effectively in a road environment.
  4. Ashmore Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) partnership: The AST program provides funding for year 4 students at participating schools to attend cycle workshops at the Ashmore PCYC's specialised road cycling training facility.
  5. Other road safety initiatives in the program include:
    1. Variable Messaging Signs (VMS) during school holidays at AST schools promoting road safety
    2. Traffic Counts and baseline surveys for schools joining the program
    3. Safe routes to school investigations for potential Park and Stride locations
    4. Partnership with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Delivering Community Outcomes:

Aside from environmental and health benefits, the program has a strong focus on building community capability for active travel. By 2040, the population of the Gold Coast is expected to exceed 1 million residents. The skills the children develop throughout their tenure in the AST program will foster self–reliant, skilled active travellers, taking the pressure off our roads and improving the liveability of the city.

About the Category

The 'Road Safety' category recognises local government initiatives which:

  • improve road or roadside infrastructure with a focus on safety benefits including heavy vehicle transport;
  • improve emergency medical response services for those involved in road crashes; and/or
  • address the specific safety needs of vulnerable groups or target specific road user risk factors.

Successful initiatives in this award category benefit communities by:

  • making communities safer and more liveable;
  • reducing the financial costs of road congestion and transport accidents; and/or
  • contributing to reductions in deaths and serious injuries from road crashes.

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