DUBLIN CITY Council is to be commended for its initiative to encourage more children to cycle to school. At a time when some local authorities are cutting back on spending, if not on staff numbers, the Bike Start initiative being piloted in 21 Dublin primary schools shows what can be achieved by a well-focused programme at local level. I
n one school alone, St Fiachra’s in Beaumont, it resulted in a five-fold increase in the number of children cycling. If such an impressive leap of faith in the use of two-wheel, non-motorised transport could be replicated across the city, it would have a remarkable effect not just on the physical health of children but also on traffic levels.
In the 20 years to 2006, the number of children cycling to school fell by 83 per cent to just 4,000 nationally, according to census figures. The majority were – and still are – being conveyed to school by car, with their parents acting as chauffeurs. Over the same period there has been a remarkable increase in childhood obesity. Trinity College’s recently published Growing Up in Ireland survey of nine-year-olds found that one in four is overweight, mainly because they don’t get enough physical exercise – whatever about eating too much “junk food”. Cycling to school, even over relatively short distances, is surely one way to counter the all-too-common sedentary lifestyle of watching television and playing computer games.
However, the authorities must do a lot more to make roads safer for cyclists; there is simply not enough cycle lanes and cycle paths. Some of the space dedicated to cyclists on busy thoroughfares is so limited as to be of little value to inexperienced children or indeed adults well used to cycling. And because of poor enforcement by the Garda, even these narrow lanes can often be blocked by carelessly parked cars. When the Vélib cycling scheme was introduced in Paris a few years ago, the city authorities made sure to allocate more space on the streets for cyclists and this contributed to its unqualified success. Dublin will have a similar scheme starting in September, but there is no indication that there will be a corresponding increase in the number or width of cycle lanes in the city.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey unveiled Ireland’s first National Cycle Policy Framework last April. Even in these times when a “slash-and-burn” approach is being advocated for public expenditure, a strong case can be made for investment in more widespread facilities for cyclists.