Funding for the only initiative for tackling the dominance of cars and encouraging active travel on the school run in Northern Ireland is in jeopardy.
Sustrans says the younger generation could be "condemned to a car-dominated future" amid fears over the withdrawal of funding from the Department for Infrastructure (DfI).
The charity says the future of the Active School Travel (AST) programme is in doubt with DfI set to remove its half of the funding.
Jointly funded by the department and the Public Health Agency (PHA) and costing approximately £450,000 per year, it encourages children to walk, scoot or cycle; improving their health, road safety and congestion at the school gates.
Walking and cycling charity, Sustrans has delivered the programme to more than 460 schools across Northern Ireland over the past decade.
The DfI decision is part of a series of cuts due to budgetary pressures on Stormont this year.
Sustrans says cutting the AST programme will "contribute a mere 0.2 per cent of the savings the department needs to make".
The charity said the programme has "achieved positive results every year" since it began in 2013.
In the 2021-22 school year, the number of children travelling actively to school at participating schools increased from 30 per cent to 41, whilst at the same time, the number of pupils being driven to school fell from 62 per cent to 51 per cent.
Caroline Bloomfield, Sustrans NI director, said: “When as many as one in five cars in the rush hour are doing the school run, and as many as 50 per cent of children live less than a mile from their primary school, enabling more children to walk or cycle to school should be a key means to reduce carbon emissions.
"Habits are formed early in life.
"The impact of this short-sighted decision will be felt most by children, and will have a long-term negative effect on their skills and education that will determine their future travel habits."
Duncan Dollimore, head of advocacy and campaigns from Cycling UK, added: “There’s no point in government departments consulting if they’re not prepared to listen, reflect, and when needed, reconsider.
"The public, schools, and the evidence are telling the DfI the same thing: cutting the AST programme would be short-sighted, prejudicial to children’s health, well-being and safety, and fly in the face of environmental commitments.
"The DfI must think again and scrap the cuts."
A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said its Resource Budget allocation for 2023/24 "does not meet the required need and, despite taking extensive decisions to reduce expenditure and raise revenue, the remaining budget shortfall is estimated to be £112 million".
They added: "A public consultation was launched on 15 May seeking views on the equality impacts of the Resource Budget for 2023/24 and of potential decisions on expenditure across the department."
