Doing the school run in the saddle: Swapping the car for the cargo bike

Jonathan Dowling wished that he could have taken his son Rowan to his crèche in Park West from their home in Tallaght with his cargo e-bike but the noise, traffic levels and difficult junctions made it too dangerous to consider.

But when Rowan started in junior infants last week Jonathan decided he or his wife, Therese O’Reilly, would definitely do the 2.8 km journey by e-bike.

“We have a car but it takes the same length of time to drive as to cycle and the exercise is good for me,” explained Dowling.

[ How to get more people cycling? It needs to be 'fun' ]

The route from his home in Tallaght crosses the M50 on a dedicated overpass and runs through Tymon Park and then along a busy road to Riverview Educate Together school on Limekiln Road, Greenhills. There is one major road crossing on the route.

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“When we mentioned that we would be taking Rowan to school on the e-bike, we got a lot of negative reactions about cyclists but I see cars going through red lights when the traffic builds up,” said Jonathan.

“The school itself encourages older children to cycle to school and there are plenty of bikes parked in the covered bike shelter.”

In its new campaign to encourage more students and families to cycle to school, research by An Taisce’s Green Schools said installing cycle parking at schools makes a difference.

“One third of parents surveyed said that cycle parking at school would encourage them to cycle to school,” said Tracey Lydon, manager of Safe Routes to School in An Taisce. “Closing off streets with schools to vehicular traffic at drop off and pick up times has also been found to be an incentive for children to cycle to school.”

The national average distance to a primary school is just 1.5 km which takes less than nine minutes by bike yet nearly 60 per cent of primary school children in Ireland are being driven to school daily.

An Taisce’s new Safe Routes to School campaign focuses on the many health benefits of switching from the car to the bike and the potential fuel savings which is estimated at €225 for a 1.5km round trip for drop-off and pick up over 180 days in the school year.

Jonathan Dowling needs no further persuasion – he plans to continue to drop his son to school by e-bike throughout the autumn and winter months.

“It’s nearly easier to cycle and it doesn’t rain on the east coast as much as people think it does. Rowan is in a covered space with plastic windows and I can wear a rain coat,” he said.