PRIMARY SCHOOL children are being encouraged to cycle to school through a new bicycle training programme from Dublin City Council.
Bike Start focuses on children from 3rd to 6th class, but is also being made available to adults new to cycling or returning to the activity after several years.
The schools programme is a four-module course taught during the school day. Level one is classroom-based, covering safe cycling theory. This is suitable for pupils from 3rd class and can be taken whether they have a bicycle or not.
Level two is held in the school grounds or yard. Signs and equipment are provided by the council to cover skills required for understanding safe use of a bicycle.
At level three, children train on small roads near their school to experience traffic. Level four progresses to busier streets and planning a journey to school.
A DVD introducing the programme will be distributed to primary schools across the city from September. Bike Start has already been piloted at 21 schools, and has resulted in a significant increase in numbers of children cycling.
“In St Fiachra’s in Beaumont there were about 12 to 14 cycling to school before the course, afterwards that went up to 110. Six months later there’s been a bit of a fall-off, but it’s still at about 60 to 70 kids cycling and that’s an amazing increase,” Labour councillor Andrew Montague said.
Michael Byrne of the council’s traffic department said it had provided a version to businesses after the high uptake of the tax incentive scheme for buying bicycles.
