Disruptive events can become windows of opportunity to instigate changes in travel behaviour. The closure of the 130-year-old Armadale Line was one such event, with the community needing to re-assess how to get around.
The Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure (formerly Department of Transport) partnered with METRONET and the Public Transport Authority and to encourage people to discover more active ways to travel locally, instead of resorting to driving for short trips. Initiatives were delivered in 2023-24 and 2024-25 in collaboration with four local governments and 14 schools.
Results were overwhelmingly positive, with the project demonstrating the value of integrating active travel engagement in schools and communities in parallel with major infrastructure delivery and network disruption.
The Armadale Line Active Travel project has now concluded: a key findings report is available:
We encourage locals to continue to walk, wheel and ride while works are ongoing.
Plan your journey using the Your Move Journey Planner. This multi-mode planner helps you find more ways to get from A to B with any combination of transport modes, in real-time.
You can also visit Transperth to find out about bus services operating during the Armadale Line shutdown, along with information about bike parking at stations.
Key project outcomes
- Intensive version of the Your Move program delivered to 14 local schools reaching 7,500 students.
- Co-design and delivery of active travel events and initiatives involving community across four local governments: City of Gosnells; City of Armadale; Town of Victoria Park and City of Canning.
- Delivery of Western Australia’s first ‘School Open Street’ trial at Queens Park Primary School – check out the video below. 76% of parents involved in the trial or other parent engagement activities said they made them more supportive of their children walking or riding to school.
- 20,000 large maps and 8,000 pocket maps were distributed in four local government communities.
- During the project, walking, bike riding and scooting to school increased by 13 per cent and car use declined by 6 per cent.
- 45 per cent of students walked or rode to school after the project, higher than the Perth average of 20 per cent.
Learn more about School Open Streets by watching the below video.
Transcript
[Music]
[Text on screen: Queens Park Primary School]
[Visual: Children walking on a path that reads ‘2 minutes walk to Queens Park Primary School’.]
Narrator: Welcome to the Queens Park Primary School Open Street.
[Visual: A sandwich board on the street announces the event. Lots of students and community members are playing games and participating in activities on the street.]
Narrator: As part of the Metronet funded Armadale Line Active Travel Project, the Department of Transport has partnered with Queens Park Primary School and the City of Canning to trial one of the first school open streets in Western Australia.
[Text on screen: What is a School Open Street?]
Narrator: A school open street is a car-free street outside of a school, closed to car traffic during drop off and pick up times and instead open to walking, wheeling and riding.
Narrator: Trials have been carried out internationally and in other parts of Australia aiming to create safer, more connected, happier and healthier school communities.
[Text on screen: Julie Herbert, Principal Queens Park Primary.]
[Visual: Julie talking to camera, cutting to the students participating in a variety of activities.]
Julie: I just think because of the activities and the engagement of the children, there's nothing better to watching the smiles on the kids’ faces and watching them, you know, riding their bikes and others engaging with them and not only their mums and dads, but different staff members engaging with the children.
It's just, yeah, the benefits are just sensational. I'd love it to continue.
[Text on screen: Parent: Queens Park Primary School]
[Visual: Parent talking to camera, cutting to students using a bubble machine, hula hoops and completing a bicycle challenge.]
Parent: Benefits that I see is probably more safety, because I know in the mornings with lots of cars and students getting dropped off, sort of at the last minute, and jumping out, it's a bit dangerous. So, I think for the safety reasons and then also just for exercise, I think it's good for kids to be getting on their bikes or walking rather than going in a car.
[Text on screen: 81% of parents are now more supportive of their children walking or riding to school.]
[Visual: A student talking to camera.]
Student: It's a good way to get kids active before school and start encouraging kids to walk, ride to school.
[Text on screen: Sam Goodhill, Teacher Queens Park Primary.]
[Visual: Sam talking to camera, cutting to the students participating in a variety of activities.]
Sam: Some of the benefits I've seen is just the interaction between parents and the teachers at school.
It's been really great just having that opportunity to have sort of casual conversation.
[Text on screen: 30% increase in active travel after the trial. Ellie Efijemeuah, City of Canning.]
[Visual: Ellie talking to camera, cutting to the students participating in a variety of activities.]
Ellie: It's so important to engage with the community just to create a better sense of place and a better sense of place in the neighbourhood.
Making sure people connect with each other, know their neighbours, you know that knowing each other is just such an integral part to a neighbourhood.
Narrator: We want to see if School Open Streets here in WA can reduce traffic congestion, boost opportunities for students to play and socialise and encourage active travel to and from school more often.
[Text on screen: Government of Western Australia Department of Transport logo. Metronet logo. Your move, more ways to get there logo. City of Canning logo.]
End of transcript