First the walking bus, now the cycling train?

First the walking bus, now the cycling train?

New research out of the University of Waikato suggests one way to keep children safe but active on their way to school is to introduce supervised ‘cycling trains’ like the successful ‘walking bus’ initiatives already in place in several Hamilton schools.

The research, “Pedalling to safety: schoolchildren and safe active transport” by social sciences honours student Kylie Fisher, identifies hazards and barriers to children biking to school and suggests initiatives (local, national and international) that might provide solutions to some of those problems – or at least make active transport a safer option.

The research was commissioned by the Child Injury Prevention Foundation of New Zealand under its Summer Research Scholarship scheme, and supervised by Dr Maxine Campbell from the Department of Societies and Cultures.

“Even though many children tell us that they would like to walk or cycle to school, a chauffeuring culture has increasingly come to dominate our transport choices,” says Fisher. “There are many negative consequences of this choice, such as health problems, traffic congestion, and air pollution. More cars on the road also make it more dangerous for children who do walk or cycle to school.”

To back up her research, Fisher spent several mornings and afternoons cycling to and from schools in her neighbourhood at peak traffic times. “I felt very unsafe and encountered a number of problems that would have been very difficult for children to cope with. Most of the problems were connected to traffic congestion around schools when parents are dropping children off or picking them up.”

Fisher says 18 Hamilton schools currently have variable speed zones around the school, and it makes sense to extend these traffic calming measures to make it safer for children who walk or cycle to and from school.

One novel idea she recommends is cycle trains -- similar to walking school buses except the children are on bikes on the road, or on dedicated cycle routes if they are available.

As well as being much safer for children because they are supervised, Fisher says one big advantage is that they save parents time. “That’s been the outcome of a survey of parents whose children travel by walking school bus and the time-saving make sense when traffic congestion is high. The parents also said that supervised active transport built a much tighter sense of community amongst those who used it.”

There are no cycle trains operating in Hamilton at present, but Fisher hopes that people will recognise the benefits of them.

Fisher says there’s one human factor that needs to change in order to maximise the safety of all road users. “I personally experienced inconsiderate driving when I was on my bike. I know that some cyclists also need to improve their etiquette on the road, but we need to stop thinking of cycling as a second class form of transport. Hamilton’s physical environment is ideal for cycling, and we should do all we can to encourage more children and their parents to get out on the roads and commute in a safe, active and sustainable manner.”

ENDS

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