Artarmon Public School students have helped turn their own school-travel ideas into five marked active routes, giving families clearer ways to walk or cycle while students continue to track how the school community gets to and from class.
Students Help Put Artarmon Routes on the Map
The Active Routes to School program was developed through a partnership between Willoughby City authorities, Artarmon Public School and the school’s P&C, with students directly involved in identifying preferred walking and cycling routes.
Year 6 students helped develop the five active travel paths, giving them a practical role in shaping routes intended for everyday use by families travelling to and from school.
Each route was assessed for safety before wayfinding decals were installed. An interactive online map was also developed to help families see the routes and plan their school journey.
Artarmon Public School principal Jono Coombes said the project allowed students to move beyond classroom discussions about active and safe travel by working directly with the authorities on mapping routes and considering safety concerns.
Students marked the launch by walking to school in funky socks.
Most Artarmon Public School Families Live Close By
Around 80 per cent of Artarmon Public School families live within 1.5 kilometres of the school, placing many households within a relatively short distance of the campus.
The program is intended to make walking, cycling and public transport easier and safer while reducing the number of vehicles on surrounding streets during busy drop-off and pick-up periods.
Authorities estimate that if walking increases by 10 per cent, up to 50 cars could be removed from local roads during those peak school periods.
That figure remains a projection rather than an Artarmon result. Students will continue recording how they travel to and from school so changes can be measured over time.
Earlier Program Saw More Walking and Cycling
Artarmon Public School is the second school in the Willoughby local government area to take part in Active Routes to School, following an earlier rollout at Willoughby Public School.
At Willoughby Public School, walking and cycling increased by up to 11 per cent after the program was introduced. As many as 80 cars were also removed from surrounding streets during peak times.
The Artarmon program will now be monitored separately as families begin using the five marked routes.
A $50,000 grant is supporting the Artarmon Public School partnership.
Transport for NSW is investing $500,000 each year through the Get Kids Active program to support similar projects involving schools and councils, after adopting Willoughby’s approach as best practice.
Willoughby’s wider Resilient Schools Active Travel Program has also been included among 11 case studies in Austroads’ Travel to School Guidelines.
For Artarmon Public School, the next measure will come from the students themselves, with ongoing travel tracking set to record whether more families begin making the school journey on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Published 18-August-2026
