Ticket to a sustainable future: An evaluation of the long-term durability of the Walking School Bus programme in Christchurch, New Zealand

Research was conducted to examine what factors influence the durability of the Walking School Buses initiative in Christchurch, New Zealand. Interviews with the parent co-ordinators of current and former Waling School Buses provided the main source of information. The results indicate that the programme is suffering a significant decline. Parents involved had experienced numerous difficulties, but the main problems were a lack of volunteers to share their workload, and insufficient ongoing support from the school or Council. In order to enhance the durability of the initiative, the Council need to restructure the organisational processes involved ensuring that parents receive all the assistance necessary to sustain their Walking School Buses in the long-term.