Amsterdam schools get approval to make streets car-free as school day starts & ends

Dozens of primary schools in Amsterdam are now allowed to make the streets in front of the schools car-free for the 30 minutes leading up the start of the school day, and the 30 minutes when classrooms clear out. The schools have been sent a letter by the alderman in charge of the policy offering them help in establish the special school zones.

Schools will be required to set this up themselves. One way this can be accomplished is by volunteers placing barriers twice a day. The responsibility for this lies with the school, according to the municipality.

"As a parent, you can of course ask the school if it wants to participate," said Melanie van der Horst, the alderman in charge of the city's traffic policy.

The concept of a car-free street near a school is not entirely new, and there are already 10 such streets in Amsterdam. That could soon become almost a hundred, according to the municipality.

Traffic around many schools is "busy and confusing, and therefore unsafe," according to the coalition including the mayor and aldermen. Van der Horst said she hopes that streets around schools will become safer for children with the measure.

When a school registers for the program, the municipality first visits the area to examine the traffic situation and whether the introduction of a school zone is possible. If that is the case, a trial period will start, after which the school street can become a permanent change.