West Berkshire, Calcot Junior School: School Streets Success

Background

West Berkshire Council (WBC) set out to improve safety and reduce congestion around Calcot Junior School through its School Streets initiative. Like many schools across the UK, the area experienced heavy traffic during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up periods, creating a challenging environment for pupils, parents, and local residents.

While the council’s School Streets pilot delivered positive early results, compliance issues remained. Manual permit management and limited enforcement capabilities meant unauthorised vehicles still entered the restricted zone, reducing the scheme’s effectiveness and limiting its potential safety benefits. To fully realise its objectives, WBC required a smarter, more efficient enforcement solution that would improve compliance while minimising operational demands on council staff.

The Challenge

Traffic congestion outside schools presents more than an inconvenience. High vehicle volumes can increase risks for children walking and cycling to school, create unsafe crossing conditions, and contribute to poor air quality around school entrances. At Calcot Junior School, peak-time traffic was causing regular congestion on Royal Avenue and surrounding roads. The existing School Streets pilot relied on manual enforcement, which made it difficult to consistently identify and manage non-compliant vehicles.

The council needed a reliable, automated solution that could enforce restrictions fairly and effectively, encourage long-term behavioural change among drivers, and support the wider aims of the School Streets programme.

The Solution

Working in partnership with West Berkshire Council, VidAlert deployed an automated School Streets enforcement solution using advanced ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology. ANPR cameras were installed at key access points on Royal Avenue to monitor vehicle movements during restricted periods. The system automatically identifies vehicles entering the zone, validates exemptions in real time, and flags unauthorised vehicles for enforcement action.

By removing the need for manual permit checks and intervention, the solution provides consistent enforcement throughout operational hours while reducing administrative workloads for council teams. The automated approach ensures restrictions are applied fairly and transparently, helping to improve compliance and support the long-term success of the School Streets scheme.

The Impact

The deployment delivered immediate and measurable improvements in compliance and traffic reduction. The key outcomes included a 62% reduction in vehicles entering the School Street zone, a 50% reduction in traffic volumes on the busiest days, and significant reductions in unauthorised vehicle movements during restricted periods. The initiative also improved compliance with School Street restrictions and provided clear evidence of positive behavioural change among drivers.