Rebecca Evans AM, Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales, has called upon the Welsh Government to further develop its support for schemes which promote and support cycling for children, such as the Sustrans Bike It initiative.
Mrs Evans recently visited Pennar Community School in Pembroke Dock to witness the Bike It scheme in action. Speaking in the Chamber, Mrs Evans told the Minister for Culture and Sport, John Griffiths AM, that she “was impressed by the way in which it promotes cycling and active travel, and helps increase local demand for more safe cycling routes.”
The Active Travel Act, a ground-breaking world-first, makes it a legal requirement for local authorities in Wales to map and plan for suitable routes for active travel, and to build and improve their infrastructure for walking and cycling every year. It creates new duties for highways authorities to consider the needs of walkers and cyclists and make better provision for them. It also requires both the Welsh Government and local authorities to promote walking and cycling as a mode of transport.
Funded by Welsh Government, the Bike It project, works with schools to give children the skills and information necessary to cycle, scoot and walk to school on a regular basis. Its purpose is to establish a whole school culture of active travel that will reduce car use and congestion, and increase the number of children cycling safely and responsibly to and from school, in order to increase road safety and help children get fit and healthy.
Mrs Evans went on to ask, “Does the Welsh Government have plans to further develop its support for the Bike It scheme as part of your responsibility to promote cycling under the Act?”
In response the Minister said: “I very much agree with the Member regarding the value of the Bike It project, and I have had first-hand experience of that at the Gabalfa Primary School in Cardiff, and it does generate a lot of enthusiasm and action. So, I very much intend to highlight the value of the scheme, and, working with the Minister for Transport, to ensure that the scheme continues to be a success across Wales.”
Mrs Evans added: “I am delighted to hear the Minister reiterate his support for the scheme. I have seen for myself the transforming effect that cycling to school can have on children’s attitudes to activity, and am aware that it can have a positive effect on learning and concentration in the classroom.”
Jane Lorimer, National Director of Sustrans Cymru, said, “We know that over half of children would like to cycle to school, but only around 2% currently do. The Bike It project has been successful in Wales, trebling the number of children cycling in the schools where we work and cutting the numbers driven to school, easing morning congestion. We hope to work with many more pupils in Wales to give them the skills and experience necessary to take to two wheels for the school journey.”
