Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity is proud to announce the results of the groundbreaking and highly successful Rural Safe Routes to School programme in Northern Ireland.
Over the past 12 months, Sustrans, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and the Department of Regional Development (DRD) have reduced car journeys to school by 27 per cent and increased cycling and walking by a staggering 58 per cent.
The £1.3 million programme has worked with 18 rural schools to introduce practical solutions to the barriers preventing nearly 4,000 children and young people from cycling or walking to school. These have included a raft of measures: new cycling and walking paths, new bike storage, pedestrian crossings, safety lights, new on road signage, and improved school access.
The overarching aim has been to support and encourage children and young people to choose cycling and walking as a way of getting to and from school.
William Methven, Rural Safe Routes to Schools Manager for Sustrans congratulated St Jarlath's PS: "It is fantastic to see that the number of young people walking or cycling has increased by over 50 per cent in the last 12 months. This is children showing adults very clearly the way forward in modern sustainable travel. This is just one example of many great successes across the 18 schools we have been working with. This programme has once again demonstrated that cycling and walking is a viable alternative to the car. If we rolled the programme out across all schools with the same level of success we would see 26 million fewer car journeys to and from school. This will not only reduce congestion and improve our local environment, it will also mean 52,000 young people would be taking regular exercise.
"This dramatic change in behaviour occurred in just 12 months, it is vital that work such as this carries on for many years to come. It shows how partnership working between our young people, civil society and Government can achieve great results in a short period of time. I hope the Rural Safe Routes to School programme will act as a model for future work in every part of Northern Ireland."
Minister for the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development, Michelle Gildernew said: "The Rural Safe Routes to School initiative is an innovative project that integrates health, fitness, environmental and safety concerns. It is important to encourage young children and their parents to adopt a healthier lifestyle, and children who stay fit now by walking or cycling to school are more likely to stay active when they are older. This is an excellent example of working in partnership, the involvement of the local school, Sustrans, Road Service, the Department of Education and DARD, all pursuing common goals for the good of local people and the development of the local community."
The measures at St Jarlath's Primary School have included a new bike shed, a new cycling and walking path from the village of Blackwatertown, new safety lights and improved road markings. These simple solutions have seen walking and cycling increase by over 50 per cent. In addition to the new facilities and route, Sustrans has been working with the school to help them develop their school travel plan to further increase the levels of cycling and walking over the coming years. Throughout the year the school has been proactive in putting on mass bike rides and walk to school days.
Minister for Transport, Conor Murphy said: "This is an excellent partnership project that also highlights the benefits of considering alternatives to the 'school run' which accounts for 20% of the traffic each morning and adds to congestion outside schools. I commend the work of all the partners but especially the work of my own Department's Roads Service who were responsible for organising the installation of the school safety zone measures."
Sustrans' Rural Safe Routes to Schools project is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) through the EU Programme for Building Sustainable Prosperity, Department for Regional Development (DRD) Roads Service, the Department of Education and the DOE Road Safety Education Branch.
Source: Sustrans
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26 million car journeys to school could be saved by innovative school run scheme
Olympic champion Jamie Staff launches the Sustrans Bike It project at Kingsnorth Primary School
Pupils and parents from Kingsnorth Primary School will be cycling to school for a free bike breakfast and a chance to meet the Olympic champion Jamie Staff as they celebrate the arrival of the highly successful Sustrans project, ‘Bike It’. This unique project works with schools across England and Wales to encourage children and young people to choose two wheels instead of four for the school journey.
Kingsnorth Primary School is the latest school to benefit from the continued success of Bike It across Ashford. Sustrans Bike It Officer David Robert works with 12 schools across the region.
Bike It Officer, David Robert said: “I am delighted that Kingsnorth Primary School has joined the Bike It project, the staff and pupils are really enthusiastic about increasing the cycling levels at the school. It is great to have a role model such as Jamie Staff backing the project. We know from research that 47 per cent of children would like to cycle to school but only 2 per cent actually do – there is an enormous potential for increasing cycling levels across the country. Cycling to school has so many benefits for pupils such as improved health, confidence and concentration as well as the obvious benefits for the environment in which they will grow up in.”
The Bike It project works directly with pupils, parents and staff to help them overcome whatever it is that is preventing them from cycling to school – by organising cycle training, helping to install new bike sheds, contributing to classroom work and providing information about safe routes to schools. Participating schools across England have seen levels of cycling treble within a year– bucking the trend in declining numbers of children cycling to school. Currently there are 32 Bike It officers working with over 300 schools and over 60,000 children across England and Wales.
Bike It is a nationwide scheme, managed by sustainable transport charity Sustrans. Nationally the project is funded by Cycling England, and the cycle industry through the Bike Hub, locally Bike It is supported by Kent Highway Services.
Staff, parents and teachers who are interested in promoting cycling and walking in their school are encouraged to call the Sustrans School Travel Team on 0117 915 0100 for free information and advice.
Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity, working on practical projects so people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. The charity is behind the award winning National Cycle Network, Connect2, Safe Routes to Schools, Bike It, TravelSmart, Active Travel and Liveable Neighbourhoods, all projects that are changing our world one mile at a time. To find out more visit www.sustrans.org.uk
Sustrans is a member of Stop Climate Chaos, a broad coalition of environmental, development, faith-based, women's and other organisations campaigning to stop human-induced climate change www.stopclimatechaos.org.
Sustrans' vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. It is achieving this through innovative but practical solutions to the UK’s transport challenges. Hence Sustrans offer a free information line for staff, parent and teachers who are interesting in promoting cycling and walking in their school.
Bike It is a nationwide scheme, managed by sustainable transport charity Sustrans, aiming to increase the number of young people cycling to school and on other journeys.
Over the 2006/07 academic year there was a trebling of cycling levels in schools taking part in the Bike It programme. There are currently 32 Bike It Officers, working with over 300 schools and over 60,000 children and young people across England and Wales.
The project receives funding from Cycling England with the support of the Department for Transport, Bike Hub – the cycle industry levy, the Big Lottery Fund's Well-being Programme, the Welsh Assembly Government, Transport for London and support from partner local authorities Bike It is core funded by the cycle industry, comprising both bicycle manufacturers and retailers, through the Bike Hub.
Cycling England is the expert body set up by Government to promote cycling nationally. Further information about Cycling England can be found at www.cyclingengland.co.uk
Source: Sustrans
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Bike It
It’s official – cycling is cool! That certainly seems to be the opinion of increasing numbers of school children in Ashford, who are finding out how much fun cycling to school can be with the help of Kent Highway Services and the Bike It project managed by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
Since March 2007, Kent Highway Services have been supporting Simon Allum, a Bike It Officer, who works with staff and children at twelve schools in Ashford to encourage them to cycle to school. Simon devises a whole program of biking events that are tailored to the particular school, and those are a great addition to the cycle training that Kent Highway Services road safety team already offers.
The emphasis is obviously on safety, so the Bike It program offers Dr Bike sessions to check the road-worthiness of bicycles, and plotting safe cycling routes has formed the basis of classroom activities. Parents are encouraged to join in too by cycling to school with their children and enjoying a bike breakfast as a reward!
Image, as everyone knows, amongst children and young people is everything and it will play an important part in the success of this project, so there are competitions to ‘bling your bike’ and plans to work with a major beauty products manufacturer to help teenage girls ride with style!
The scheme certainly seems to be proving popular and Kent Highway Services are watching it carefully as there is a possibility that another Bike It officer could be employed elsewhere in Kent in the near future. There is evidence of the scheme’s success across the country, with participating schools in UK towns and cities achieving cycling levels ten times the national average – bucking the trend in declining numbers of children cycling to school.
Bike It is a nationwide scheme, managed by Sustrans. Nationally the project is funded by Cycling England and the cycle industry, locally Bike It is supported by Kent Highways Services.
If you want to get involved, you can find out more by emailing simon.allum@sustrans.org.uk
To find out more about cycling in Kent, please visit the Kent Highway Services website at www.kent.gov.uk/highways.
