Pupils, teachers, and parents across Central Bedfordshire are being encouraged to walk, wheel, or jump on their bikes and scooters for the 2026 Big Walk and Wheel schools’ challenge. The Big Walk and Wheel inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, improve air quality where they live, and help them to discover how these changes benefit their world.

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Schools are invited to take part in this two-week virtual challenge where pupils’ active travel journeys are recorded as virtual miles to Santa in Lapland. We can issue schools with a PowerPoint presentation, and a prize scooter to be presented on the last day of term in assembly. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Contact Travel Choices for more information.

Schools are encouraged to take part in our new challenge ‘Walktober’. A prize bag will be supplied along with a PowerPoint launching the challenge. Each day as pupils travel sustainably, they are issued with a ticket, and at the end of the week there is a draw for the prize bag containing lots of sustainable travel goodies.  Contact Travel Choices for more information.

Come down to Flitwick Leisure Centre, Steppingley Road, MK45 1TH, on Saturday 4 October (11.00 - 14.00) to drop off your old or unwanted bike. We will recycle and pass it on to someone who needs transport to get to work or school, or maybe just to get some exercise and fresh air.

Please complete the form to select a time to drop your bike(s) off.

A new Sustainable Student Programme has been launched, offering young people in years 10 to 12 the opportunity to explore climate change, acquire green skills, and lead environmental initiatives in their schools.

CBC’s Sustainability Team leads this free pilot initiative and unites students from across the region to learn from experts, participate in practical workshops and develop their own sustainability project.

Register your interest here.

Our main operators are Stagecoach, Arriva, Centrebus and Grant Palmer who work closely with Central Bedfordshire to deliver services both on the commercial and supported networks. There are many special travel deals available.

Working with our partners at Luton and Bedford Borough councils, we are again running the Days Out By Bus campaign this summer, and have produced a guide to the many brilliant places to visit around the area (PDF), from zoos and farms to historic houses and museums, with details of how to get to them by bus. If you’re feeling energetic, the guide also includes swimming pools, countryside walks and country parks. We’ve even been able to negotiate special discounts at some of the attractions for visitors arriving by bus.

Walk to School Week is Living Streets’ annual five-day walking challenge and takes place 19-23 May 2025. This year’s challenge will see pupils take on The Great Space Walk, encouraging them to travel actively to school every day of the week. 

Meeting various colourful intergalactic friends along the way, pupils will learn about the important reasons to walk or wheel and its benefits for individuals, communities and the planet.

Pupils, teachers, and parents across Central Bedfordshire are being encouraged to walk, wheel, or jump on their bikes and scooters for the 2025 Big Walk and Wheel schools’ challenge.

Now in its sixteenth year, Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, improve air quality where they live, and help them to discover how these changes benefit their world.

Schools in Central Bedfordshire will be taking part in the Santa Challenge between Monday 25 November and Friday 6 December.

The challenge is a virtual race where every active journey to school made by pupils and their parents counts as one virtual mile to Santa’s home in Lapland.

Each morning of the challenge, pupils will record their active travel. After the two week challenge, all journeys at the school are combined, to see whether they have reached their goal of achieving two thousand miles (the equivalent distance from Central Bedfordshire to Lapland).

The aim is to reduce the number of cars on the school run and to continue to give pupils the opportunity to learn about the many benefits of ’active travel’ to school during the winter months, alongside the importance of staying safe.

Cycle to School Week will take place 23 – 27 September and all schools are invited to take part.  

Encourage staff and parents to save money, get healthier and alleviate congestion on the roads. To receive free resources for your school, you just need to make a pledge at Cycle to School Week - Bikeability.

Pupils in Central Bedfordshire will take to the streets for Walk to School Week. They will join thousands of children across the UK to take to their feet for Living Streets’ challenge ‘The Magic of Walking’. The challenge will encourage pupils to be active on their way to school, improving their health, happiness and local environment. Each day, the challenge will teach pupils about five important reasons to walk and the impact it can have – including sustainability, inclusion, health, mindfulness and friendship.

Families are encouraged to walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ for the whole week to see the big differences that come from small steps - from healthier and happier children to fewer cars outside the school gates.

From Easter until the end of the summer holidays, the Centrebus ZOO bus service will operate during weekends and school holidays. The service will run every 90 minutes from Luton Parkway, through Dunstable and into Whipsnade Zoo.

To make your trip to the Zoo even better, they are offering a 50% admission ticket discount if you’ve travelled by bus.

The Big Walk and Wheel will be running from Monday 11 March to Friday 22 March and all schools are invited to take part.

Pupils, teachers, and parents across Central Bedfordshire will be encouraged to walk, wheel, or jump on their bikes and scooters for the 2024 challenge.

Now in its fifteenth year, Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, improve air quality where they live, and help them to discover how these changes benefit their world.

The challenge is free to take part and there are daily prizes to be won. The idea is to persuade pupils, teachers, and parents to leave their cars at home and choose active travel for their school journey.

Register at Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel 2024

A school street is a timed road closure outside or next to a school at drop-off and pick-up times. The school street is closed to most vehicles, with exemptions made for residents and people with accessibility needs.

Many schools experience heavy congestion outside their gates during pick-up and drop-off times. Unfortunately, this can increase road danger for children and worsen air pollution outside the school gates. School streets have been created in many parts of the UK to tackle this problem. There are now over 600 school streets nationally.

Key reasons for school streets:

• Safer environment: School streets significantly reduce traffic congestion and improve the air quality around school premises, providing a safer environment for pupils and parents during peak drop-off and pick-up hours.

• Pedestrian Priority: School streets allow pupils to cross the road more safely, reducing the risk of accidents and ensuring a smoother flow of foot traffic around the school.

• Active travel: School streets encourage children to walk, scoot and cycle to school.

  We evaluate the eligibility of schools for a school street on a case-by-case basis. A school street is usually trialled for a few months, after which we consider whether to make the school street permanent.

Would you like your children to play out safely in your street? We want to work with you to set up play streets in your area.

A play street is a free scheme whereby residents come together to give children a chance to play freely and safely close to their homes. It is led by residents but supported by us. 

Play streets:

• take place for an hour or 2 at a time

• happen once a month or every other week

• happen on quiet residential streets

• are closed to through traffic, but residents can still drive in and out at walking speed (supervised by volunteers)

Parents are responsible for their own children.

The street becomes a safe space for children to play and neighbours to socialise.

The process usually involves a lead organiser getting together a handful of residents to act as stewards. If you are a parent, carer or resident who is interested, please contact us at: begreen@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.

We will work with you to check if your street is suitable, talk through questions and concerns and walk you through next steps.

Questions and answers

Central Bedfordshire lower and primary schools are once again taking part in a Christmas challenge; counting their walking, scooting and cycling trips to school to see if they can travel virtually to visit Santa in Lapland.

This year’s challenge runs from Monday 27 November to Friday 8 December.

The aim is to decrease the number of cars used on the school run and give pupils the opportunity to learn about the many benefits of traveling actively to school alongside the importance of staying safe.

Using a class record sheet, pupils and their teachers will monitor active travel trips to school. All journeys will then be combined to see if each school reached its goal of achieving 2,000 miles, the equivalent distance from Central Bedfordshire to Lapland.

Until 31 December 2024, single bus journeys will cost no more than £2 on most routes around Central Bedfordshire.

The government’s “Get Around for £2” scheme limits bus fares for single journeys to a maximum of £2 on bus journeys around the country. The offer has been extended to the end of December 2024 and now that Grant Palmer services have joined the scheme, most bus journeys in Central Bedfordshire are included. Why not make the most of your local bus services and travel around Central Bedfordshire for no more than £2 for a single journey?

Find out more on GOV.UK.

A number of Arriva bus routes have timetable changes from Sunday 19 November.

These include Routes F70 and F77 (Luton – Dunstable – Leighton Buzzard – Milton Keynes) which include more F77 journeys via Tilsworth, and enhanced evening and Sunday services on route F77.  This is funded through the Council’s Bus Services Improvement Plan in partnership with the UK Government.

Routes A, Z, 28 / 28B and 31 in the Luton and Dunstable area will have revised timetables, and route Z will no longer serve Linmere (The Farmstead).  This is partially replaced by services 28/28B. 

 For further details go to Public transport