'Green' school transport expanded

The Government has announced plans to get a quarter of a million schoolchildren involved in a scheme designed to get them out of private cars and using other forms of transport.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey today pledged €2 million a year for the next four years to An Taisce's Green Schools Travel Module.

The scheme, which is overseen by the Dublin Transportation Office, has been running as a pilot scheme in the Greater Dublin region since 2005. It aims to encourage children to cycle or walk to school rather than use private cars. It also promotes car pooling and the use of public transport.

Recent CSO figures reveal that nearly half of school children are driven to school. Figures also show one in five children is overweight, while one in 20 is obese.

Mr Dempsey said the scheme will be expanded throughout the country, with 274 schools taking part this year, up from 49 in 2007. By 2012, it is hoped 1,150 schools will run modules. The number of children taking part will rise from 20,000 in 2007 to 265,00 by 2012. Cycling training will also be introduced, he added.

"The pilot … delivered an average 10 per cent decline in car use for school journeys," Mr Dempsey said. "The decline was replaced by an 8 per cent increase in walking or cycling and 1 per cent increases in use of public transport and mixed mode travel."

Mr Dempsey said that teaching children to use alternative methods of transport at an early age will hopefully "open their minds for the rest of their lives."

A consultative committee – comprising representatives of local authorities, Government departments, the Road Safety Authority, the Dublin Transport Office and An Taisce – will be established. It will be tasked with "helping to adopt a more holistic approach to tackling the challenges faced by parents and schoolchildren in choosing alternative school travel arrangements," Mr Dempsey said.

Key challenges include the lack of appropriate traffic calming measures; the lack of footpaths in rural locations; dangerous parking by some parents near the school gates; the lack of cycling infrastructure in schools and the ever-increasing weight of school books.