What Westminster reveals about the London school run

We’re pleased to share that HomeRun has delivered its first

London borough-wide STEP pilot with Westminster City Council.

Using HomeRun STEP, we have individually modelled 19,349 pupil journeys to 48 Westminster state schools, creating a new evidence base to help the council in its mission to make the school run safer, healthier, and more sustainable

The Westminster modelling has already surfaced three useful insights for London.

1 > The school run doesn’t stop at borough boundaries

One of the clearest findings from Westminster is that the school run in London cannot be understood through a borough-only lens.

In Westminster, 44% of all school journeys originate outside the borough, with the largest inbound flows coming from Brent, Camden and Lambeth.

This matters because it changes how we plan solutions. If a large share of the school run crosses borough boundaries, then meaningful change will often require more joined-up working between councils, as well as a stronger role for TfL and the GLA in supporting cross-borough approaches.

2 > Targeted intervention beats blanket measures

Westminster also shows why blanket approaches have limits.

The borough contains schools with very local, dense urban catchments, alongside others with much wider and more complex travel patterns. Some may have strong potential for change through travel planning and behaviour measures. Others may need School Streets, cycle training, safer routes investment, or more ambitious access management.

STEP intelligence can help councils target school travel planning and Travel for Life activity, focus Safer Routes to School investment, and better align action with air quality and Healthy Streets priorities.

3 > In central London, the balance is already shifting

Westminster starts from a different position to many places elsewhere in the country. Strong public transport, congestion charging, ULEZ, parking pressure, and limited road space all shift the balance away from the car.

That does not mean the job is done. Car use still persists, including on short journeys. But it does mean the conditions for change are already in place. The task is to identify where the balance is already close to tipping, and then act accordingly.

Westminster is an important milestone for us, but the wider message is bigger than one borough. To make the school run safer and healthier across London, then every borough needs a better understanding of how its school run actually works – and STEP is ready to help at scale.

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