Home-to-school transport in contemporary schooling contexts: an irony in motion

This paper explores ‘home–school’ transport in contemporary schooling contexts in England. Home–school transport is a complex issue lying between government departments, policy frameworks, research and professional disciplines. It is complicated further by commercial and private interests alongside social and public ones. Informed by an interdisciplinary literature, the authors argue that there is an urgent need to develop understanding of the position of home–school transport policy and practices in contemporary schooling contexts, particularly in relation to school choice making and enactment. This paper calls for research to inform the development of home–school transport policy and practices that are socially just and sustainable.