[sustran] Will you let your children cycle to school?

[Todd Alexander Litman]

Urban planners are increasingly aware of the importance of allowing 
children to travel to school under their own power, for a variety of 
economic, social, environmental and health reasons. The portion of 
children walking or bicycling to school can be considered a key 
indicator of community sustainability. In recent years a number of 
programs have developed to support non-motorized school travel, in 
both developed and developing countrires. Some address community 
design, emphasizing the value of having smaller, neighborhood schools 
instead of larger, more centralized schools, and the location of 
schools in the center of neighborhoods rather than on busy arterials 
and highways. Some focus on physical design, including sidewalks, 
crosswalks, bike paths and traffic calming on streets around schools. 
Some include bicycle safety education and encouragement.

For information see the "School Transport Management" 
(http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm36.htm ) and "Campus Transport 
Management" (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm5.htm ) chapters of our 
Online TDM Encyclopedia.


Best wishes,
-Todd Litman


Chu Wa wrote:
> >
> > - primary school pupils want to cycle to school on their own but parents'
> > concerns are stopping them.
> >
> > - 90% of youngsters have bikes and more than 30% of them would 
> like to cycle
> > to school, only 1% actually do
> >
> > - parents who drive their children to school risk creating a habit of
> > dependency that undermines children's confidence and self-reliance
> >
> > - It's a great shame children are being denied the opportunity to 
> experience
> > this (cyling) independence because parents are worried about 
> their safety on
> > the roads
> >
> > All above remarks from THE HERALD (UK) can be applied to 
> Singapore directly.
> > I am just wondering how many cities (developing or not) are facing similar
> > problems?
> >
> > Chu Wa
> > Commuter cyclist
> > Father of two
> >
> >
> >
> > The full news:
> > http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1247222.0.0.php
> > -
> >


Sincerely,
Todd Alexander Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
litman at vtpi.org
Phone & Fax 250-360-1560
1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"

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