Page 25 - Tropic Magazine Issue 33

TROPIC • SPECIAL FEATURE

Source: Cairns Regional Council

Students living within
three kilometres of school
73% 41%
Primary students
Secondary students

Can we blame non-government school
travel for traffic congestion?
More than a third of Cairns children attend non-government
schools. Generally, these students must travel further from
home, public bus routes aren’t as straightforward, and subsidies
for public transport are harder to come by.
Tropic has delved into the facts and figures, which show why
parents are incentivised to drive their kids to school.
Students at non-government schools are not eligible for bus
passes under the School Transport Assistance Scheme if they
live closer to a state school. Plus, private school bus services
can be expensive. For instance, Trinity Anglican School charges
$600/year, while at Peace Lutheran College it’s a whopping Taking the bike bus
$1460/year. That’s on top of school fees.
The Queensland Government’s Non-State Schools Transport A bike bus is a group of people who cycle to
Assistance scheme pays for public bus services over and school or work in a group. It’s called a bus
above $40/week, but families must pay upfront, and they are because there’s a set route and timetable.
reimbursed twice a year. It doesn’t cover bus services owned and It promotes both active travel and road safety,
run by private schools. but schools are dependent on volunteer teachers
There is also assistance available through the School Transport and parents to act as supervisors.
Assistance Scheme, but it’s only available to students without a In 2012, Trinity Beach State School made the
state school nearer to their home. Guinness World Records when 600+ riders
participated in the world’s biggest school
bike bus.
Possible solutions
Carpooling with other families What could help
Joining your school’s Parents & Friends Association to advocate Government-funded employment of bike
for cheaper school-run bus services bus supervisors, like that of school crossing

Advocating for government subsidies for bus travel operated by supervisors.
non-government schools

100 % of students in non-government
schools by state electorate
80

60
41.6% 36.8%
40 34.6%

20

Barron River Cairns Mulgrave

Source: Independent Schools Queensland MORE: tropicnow.com.au

25 • tropicnow.com.au