Capital pupils urged to saddle up for school run

CALLS were today made for council bosses to do more to encourage pupils to cycle after it emerged just five per cent travel to and from school by bike.

Primary schools fared best in the latest Hands Up Scotland school travel survey, with six per cent of younger children getting on their bikes, compared with just two per cent of secondary pupils.

Although the numbers remain low, the results have improved since the first survey was carried out in 2008.

The number of pupils walking to school has also increased slightly, while the amount of youngsters being driven to the gates has fallen.

Despite the council's transport leader praising the progress made by pupils, there are still concerns that not enough is being done to make it easier for youngsters to cycle.

The Evening News previously revealed that children from Canal View Primary in Wester Hailes were banned from taking their bikes to school because there was nowhere to chain them up.

Green councillor Alison Johnstone said council bosses and schools needed to make it easier and safer for children to cycle if Edinburgh was to have any chance of hitting its target of having 15 per cent of all journeys by bike by 2020.

She said: "It's good to see we have made some small improvement, but this improvement is particularly slow.

"It's a real concern and underlines the fact that the council must do more to encourage young people to cycle.

"It's so important that we bring cycle training into schools and that we make cycle routes as safe as possible. Schools need to set up bike trains to school, in addition to walking buses."

The Edinburgh Steiner School topped the poll of primary and secondary schools, with 15 per cent of its pupils regularly cycling to school. Alistair Pugh, who teaches geography, said: "We have introduced a number of initiatives to reduce unnecessary car use, encourage healthy and sustainable travel and increase safety for our pupils.

"Since the 2008 survey, we have increased our cycling figures by 40 per cent.

"Our pupils travel from across the city, as well as from the Lothians and Fife."

The survey shows 18 per cent of primary pupils are driven to school, compared with just over 22 per cent in 2008, while the figure has dropped from 8.4 per cent to seven per cent for secondary pupils.

City transport leader Gordon Mackenzie said: "The council is delighted that cycling figures for the authority are, overall, on the increase. It is crucial that other schools follow the lead of the Edinburgh Steiner School."