Extra funding for safer routes, American-style yellow bus schemes and free bicycles for those unable to afford them are measures that could reduce congestion by dramatically increasing the number of children who walk and cycle to school, according to a group of MPs.
The transport select committee report on school travel recognised that More children now travel to school by car than by public transport, but acknowledges a tension between promoting choice of school and promoting sustainable school travel. The government has, to date, done little to address the tension,” it says.
The report found that the amount of free travel for students varied depending on where they lived; nearly half spend more than £11 a week on travel.
Many teenagers spend more on travel than they receive in the £30 a week Educational Maintenance Allowance if they stay on at school after 16.
Louise Ellman, chair of the committee, said: “It would be a good idea to give bikes to families who can’t afford them. There is a scheme in Liverpool where bikes are lent to people to help them get to jobs. That could be expanded.”
Cycling to school
Director at the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), Andrew Davis recently cycled with his son to school for the first time:
We haven’t done it before because it is such a short walk. He needed his cycle at school because he is doing his bikeabilty course – the new name for the cycling proficiency test. Although we have been cycling together on the road for a number of years – including main roads, we have never travelled together in the rush hour.”
It made me aware of how much more there is to it than just being able to cycle. Judging the actual and potential actions of other road users which, after nearly fifty years, has become second nature to me, is a skill that can only be gained by practice.
Cycling is a life skill
Like being able to swim, cycling is a skill which every able-bodied person should learn early in life. I’d make it a precondition of being able to drive. Getting road sense as a cyclist makes for a better driver.
My son has had the advantage of picking up tips from me as new traffic situations occur, but the learning has not been one way. At the beginning we went along only local streets but as his cycling has improved we have travelled further afield. As we have no particular place to go we turn left and right as his sense of adventure suits him. We end up in places that I knew were there but had never seen. I have got to know my locality far better than before. We have discovered many quiet places – far more than a motorist or walker would find.
Although cycling is low in this country compared to our near neighbours, I am pleased to see more people cycling. I am especially pleased to see people cycling together across the generations.
As Wells said “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race”. I think that the more children cycle on the streets with their parents the more adult cyclists we shall have in future and we can then turn despair into hope.
If you need to cover your bike against theft or vandalism, have a look at the ETA cycle insurance policy – it includes a breakdown recovery service for cyclists.
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