Fears for children cycling to school
A mum from Bath said that a lack of proper cycling routes has made her fear for the lives of her children.
Joanna Wright and Sarah Warren’s petition calling for better public transport and cycling routes in Bath has more than a thousand signatures.
They want the council to work with bus companies and schools to improve transport so fewer children are driven by their parents every day.
They also want improved cycling routes so parents can feel confident that their children can cycle safely to school.
Joanna previously collected 25,000 toy cars for a public exhibition as part of Transition Larkhall to highlight how many cars make the daily school run.
The council has suggested that schools stagger their opening and closing hours to avoid a mass of students boarding buses at the same time.
Joanna started a campaign called #getout of the car to encourage more children to get the bus, cycle or walk to school.
However, she said, poor infrastructure forces children back into cars.
“My children get up at 6.30 every morning so they can take the 7.17 bus, which is the only one they can sit down on. If they go any later, they can’t get a seat.
“Even if the council were able to get school buses, it’s not just about getting to school, it’s about getting back home after school and many children have extracurricular activities that are in different locations.
“There aren’t enough buses to get children to different parts of the city. Sometimes children will have to get two different buses from two providers just to get to one place”
Joanna and Sarah both said that while they understand the financial constraints on local governments, and that buses are run independently from the council, they feel that the council should have a better advisory role to make sure that the buses run efficiently.
They hope that the council can use data from schools to better understand where children are travelling to and from, and to make sure that they have the right transport facilities.
Joanna and Sarah’s petition also looks at the price of buses as a huge barrier to students being able to take public transport.
Joanna said safety measures for cyclists were particularly poor, which makes her fear for the safety of her two children, aged 13, and 15:
“There’s a lack of infrastructure and a lack of care for cyclists.
“When my children cycle to school there’s not a morning when they cycle to school that I don’t think that I might not see them again.
“I do worry, but I believe that they should have independence and have ability to move freely.”
A spokeswoman from the council said: “Bath & North East Somerset Council meets its duty to provide home-to-school transport for children who meet the statutory criteria and it encourages regular dialogue between schools and transport providers.
“Also, it has invested in a programme of ‘Safe routes to school’ to improve walking and cycling routes.
“In an open competitive marketplace, it is up to transport providers to assess potential demand and cater for it.