HomeRun offers innovative, data-led, software products that enable local authorities (LAs) to efficiently manage and reduce the impacts of school travel on their communities and the environment. We have two core products:
- HomeRun STEP (School Travel Evaluation Platform) which transforms how school travel impact is understood and acted upon. Part-funded by the Department for Transport through an Innovate UK grant, STEP uses cutting-edge predictive modelling to analyse 9m+ daily school journeys made across the UK and accurately estimate their carbon emissions (~5% of all road transport emissions).
- STEP helps LAs understand which regions and neighbourhoods are most affected by the school run, and which realistic solutions would have the most benefit in: i) cutting carbon emissions, ii) increasing active travel and iii) reducing congestion. LAs use this evidence base to inform public transport plans, to design local cycling and walking infrastructure, and to allocate funding where the potential impact is greatest to help achieve their net zero goals.
- HomeRun also has a journey-sharing app for use by parents within school communities. Journey-sharing is often the quickest and cheapest way to reduce car usage and carbon emissions on the school run, particularly for schools with rural catchments. Using the strategic intelligence that STEP provides, LAs can identify schools that have high potential for car reduction and carbon savings and can then optionally choose to fund or subsidise the cost of the journey-sharing app for these schools.
HomeRun’s products are relevant for all local authorities. HomeRun’s primary clients are LAs that are also Local Transport Authorities. Within these organisations, users of our software typically work in transport strategy, active travel, and school travel planning teams.
HomeRun also works with local authority transport planning teams, where STEP is used to enable a “vision-led” approach for new property developments (as mandated by the government in their recent reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework). LAs can also fund the journey-sharing app for schools through developer planning contributions to enable behaviour change and reduce the strain of new housing projects on the transport network.
HomeRun began working with Essex County Council in 2023. Initially, the council funded the journey-sharing app for a set number of schools and although the pilot was successful in reducing car usage at those school communities, it became clear to us that a more fundamental service was required by central and local government if they were to realise their active and sustainable travel objectives at scale.
We found that local authorities could not identify which schools and areas would be most suitable for specific sustainable travel interventions, nor provide baselines or benchmarks from which to evaluate benefits. This is due to an almost complete lack of school travel data which is widely impacting transport strategy and the effectiveness of sustainable travel spending.
This realisation led to the creation of STEP, with HomeRun and Essex County Council jointly submitting a successful grant funding application to the Department for Transport-funded Transport Decarbonisers Demonstrators project. Through understanding every school’s catchment area, existing pupil transport modes, and potential for active and sustainable travel, Essex County Council can now direct active travel infrastructure, public transport services and behaviour change solutions to where they are most needed.
Costs to LAs for STEP vary based on the approximate number of pupils attending schools within their geography, with list pricing ranging from ~£40k - £100k. HomeRun is offering a significant discount on this list pricing to forward-thinking, early-adopter councils.
STEP can be funded through various channels, including but not limited to:
- Capability Funding from Active Travel England
- Housing Development Contributions such as Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 contributions
- Savings from reduced spend on external consultants for bids and data, and from routing home-to-school transport more efficiently
Pooya Kamvari at p.kamvari@homerun-app.com
STEP is a huge breakthrough for the sector, providing an innovative new product endorsed by the Department for Transport, that meets an important unmet need; ambitious early-adopter LAs can benefit from ongoing significant discounts on list pricing as well as exciting national PR opportunities.
