The roads will soon be filling up with back-to-school traffic, so Rory Creantries to work out the best way to get from breakfast table to classroom
GETTING BACK to school: how do we do it? As the school year draws closer, I decided that it was time to choose the best way to get you there in the morning.
You could be standing, waiting for the 8:11 train while being lashed out of it. You might be clawing through the mob to secure a bus seat. Either way, public transport hardly seems an attractive option when you're trying to get to school. But is public transport so bad? What about pedalling up that ominous hill? Walking on the pathway, rain water seeping into your shoes, or simply purloining precious petrol supplies in "mummy's SUV"? There is no ideal mode of transport to get you to school. My school is 7.11km away, gate to gate, and I decided to examine public transport, walking, cycling and driving, to see which of these options gets you from points A to B in the best condition. Believe me, it's easier said than done.
Dr Crean, a St James's cardiologist (and, I should disclose, my father), believes that the healthiest option is cycling.
"At least you have to walk a little bit with public transport," he says. "Driving, for exercise, is worse than useless. For you, walking is impractical, but for anyone closer to the school, it makes great aerobic exercise. The fact is people need to walk, run or cycle to school for some kind of exercise."
Teacher John Sheil tells me why he drives. "I could walk or cycle, but if you have books and bags, the car makes life easier. And there's nothing better than beeping your horn as you pass grim colleagues, with an umbrella clutched in their hands."
A mother of two (one of those two being me) advocates public transport. "It's handy for people for whom cycling or walking is not possible. With more buses becoming more frequent, public transport is a reliable way to travel."
Eoin Healy, a cycling aficionado, says: "Cycling costs nothing, once you get the bike. It makes great time in morning traffic. It's intense exercise, especially with the schoolbag, which leaves you hot and bothered when you get into school. It's also very weather-dependent. If it's wet outside, it can be quite dangerous, but still, it's a great lifestyle."
I asked each of my advocates to award points to each mode of transport under five different headings, on a scale from 0-3.
Cycling:It costs nothing, except for the bike itself. The journey took 22 minutes and 46 seconds, as you can dodge through traffic, and it's direct, door to door, non-stop. Cycling is also the best for burning breakfast calories. It's definitely not comfortable, but it's better than walking. Though it was voted as least safe, Dr Crean insists that "There's a risk in everything. There's a minute risk in cycling or walking to school but it's greatly outweighed by the long-term benefits."
Cost: 2 Time: 3 Healthiness: 3 Comfort: 1 Safety: 0 Total: 9
Public transport:At most a train or bus fare for a child costs 90c. Trains and buses move fast, but all those stops and walking time add up to make public transport actually quite slow. My journey cost me 33 minutes and 6 seconds of my precious final few days of summer. With the short walks sprinkled along the journey, there is some exercise involved. Trains and buses give you comfortable seats for most of the journey. It was also agreed that public transport was the safest.
Cost: 1 Time: 1 Healthiness: 1 Comfort: 2 Safety: 3 Total: 8
Car:The car costs 96c. The journey takes a minimum of 30 minutes with morning traffic. Aside from opening the door and getting out of the vehicle there is no exercise. It does have the advantage of heating, radio and your own seat. It was also considered the second safest.
Cost: 0 Time: 2 Healthiness: 0 Comfort: 3 Safety: 2 Total: 7
Walking:It costs nothing, but it also has an atrocious time of 1 hour, 14 minutes and 52 seconds. It was voted the second healthiest way of getting to school, but the least comfortable due to the weight of the accompanying school bag.
Cost: 3 Time: 0 Healthiness: 2 Comfort: 0 Safety: 1 Total: 6
There you have it, the bike wins by one point. So, if you're travelling to school, take the bike, and I'll be to sure to wave when I pass in "Mother of two's" SUV.
• Rory Crean is one of the winners of the Junior category of this year's Irish Times School Mag award with WTF?