Australia’s RideScore program gets international recognition

The top-tier international Journal of Transport and Health has published an evaluation reporting on the highly successful results of the RideScore Active Schools program. 

The evaluation report published in the Journal of Transport and Health reveals RideScore resulted in a large increase of 55 per cent in bike and scooter trips to school across a four month period – a significant increase compared to many other active school programs in Australia and internationally. 

The success has been attributed to RideScore addressing parents’ concerns around independent travel with automated messages through a dedicated app on arrival and departure and motivating the students through gamification with a variety of incentives, competition and leaderboards.

Sunshine Coast Council Managing for Growth Portfolio Councillor Christian Dickson said it was about creating a better Sunshine Coast for the people living there.

"We all want our kids to be safe, active and happy, especially on the trip they do every day to school," Cr Dickson said.

"RideScore does all this and more, including helping to reduce traffic around schools at peak times. 

"The international recognition that comes from the publication in this prestigious journal is a testament to all the hard work done by our Transport team and even better as the idea came from one of our own staff."

The original concept was the brainchild of Sunshine Coast Council Officer Colleen Penny.

"It has been a long road to this point after I first set up a basic system of notifications for parents at my son’s school back in 2017," Ms Penny said.

"As a parent myself, I’ve always understood the hesitation many families feel about letting their children travel independently to school.  

"The notifications provide peace of mind for parents while empowering independence and building resilience in kids."

WeRide’s Peter Bourke said the concept had clearly hit the mark.

"WeRide had been working with many ride to school programs and as soon as we became aware of the small program being run by the Sunshine Coast Council we realised it ticked all the boxes," Mr Bourke said.

"After securing a major federal grant and state government and developer support in partnership with Council, we had the resources to develop the RideScore platform."  

About RideScore

• a partnership between the Sunshine Coast Council and We Ride Australia
• the largest trial of its kind ever undertaken in Australia for a cycling and scooting to school program of this type
• more than 1,000 primary school participants
• evaluation was conducted by a team from Deakin University and University of Canberra that included Associate Professor Neil Coffee and Dr Margo Cargo
• Active commuting to school increases physical activity, helping children meet Australia’s national physical activity guidelines
• The initial development of the program was supported by Federal Government ‘Move It AUS’ grant
• Seed funding was obtained from the Queensland Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads and Stockland Developments to develop the concept and move to a ‘pilot’ status.

More information

• The report was published in the Journal of Transport and Health and is available for free download   
• WeRide RideScore webpage
• Sunshine Coast Council’s website RideScore