Catching the bike bus!
The summer holidays feel like a distant memory, especially on our roads. The dramatic increase in traffic is a stark contrast to the quieter streets of summer, with many studies showing that one in five cars on the road during the school run is heading to or from a school. It’s a huge difference. It’s time to choose a better way: the bike bus!
What is a bike bus?
The concept is simple. All riders go as one big group, with an adult usually with some music at the front, children and families in the middle and an adult at the back. The bike bus goes from designated stop to stop, picking up more families. Children get to school feeling energised, getting the blood pumping to the brain and getting into optimal learning mode and ready to start the school day.
Some schools in Nottingham are trying things differently and getting great results. Last year Haydn Road School in Nottingham launched a “bike bus” and after its success are continuing it this academic year.
Local Mum and organiser Hayley said “I am delighted to be part of the Haydn Road School bike bus, the smiles on the children’s faces are everything and I urge anyone thinking of joining one to give it a go”.
Danger of driving to school
Being driven to school does not give the energy boost to engage the mind ready to learn. It is also dangerous both to the occupants of the car and to those near the school gate.
Inside the car, the levels of pollution are higher, often coming in from the exhausts in front and getting trapped in the car, which is massively increased around school run times (1) (2).
These are often odourless and colourless toxic fumes especially damaging to children’s developing lungs.
Outside of the car, as well as these toxic fumes, the all-too-often case of drivers speeding near schools if they can, parking on zigzags and the road rage, have led to children being hit by drivers. Less congestion – fewer cars squeezing on to streets near schools provides greater visibility for school walking, scooting or cycling to school. Just here in Nottingham, during the last academic year, three children were knocked down by drivers just outside schools (3). This cannot be repeated.
A lot of children live in close catchment areas to schools. The often couple of mile journey need not be by car but can be by bicycle. With many children leaving school overweight or obese, and the recommendation of getting 60 minutes of physical activity a day, incorporating a cycle at both ends of the day may just work.
Set one up at your school to give your child and their school a chance to get all the benefits a bike bus brings! Sustrans have put together a resource pack called FRideDays Bike Bus. There’s a lot of support including materials such are marshal tabards and a how-to guide.
As well as these Bikeability have created a video, see below and loads of resources are available on the Bikeability website.
Sources
(1) https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/in-car-pollution-equivalent-to-passively-smoking/
(2) https://www.surrey.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-06/fact-one-cars-queuing-or-idling.pdf
(3) https://www.transportnottingham.com/lets-get-back-to-school-safely/
(4) (UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines, published 7th September 2019)