Cycle Bus & Walking Bus
What are Cycling and Walking Buses?
Both cycle buses and walking buses promote Active Travel by bike or on foot for school children.
A group of experienced volunteers, parents and teachers, escort groups of children to school by bike or walking along a set route, on a set timetable, every day during school term. Just like a school bus theses 'buses' stop to pick up children at points along the route to school.
When cycling, volunteers function like a mobile cycle lane, allowing children as young as 5, to cycle to school safely. Volunteers have key roles to fulfill to ensure the safety of the children, and are stationed at the front, rear, on the outside of the group as support, and at major junctions along the route. The process is similar for a walking bus with volunteers leading and protecting the group of children along their walk.
The percentage of children driven to school in Fingal is growing each year. With the RSA saying Irish roads are “incredibly dangerous for small children”, parents are understandably concerned that cycling to school alone may not be safe on busy roads during peak commuting hours. Cycle Buses are supervised by trained volunteers and offer increased safety while empowering children to make it to school under their own steam.
Research shows that car dependent children are less physically active than their peers. Less physically active children tend to be less healthy and we know that play and recreation are good for their mental health too. Cycle Buses encourage daily exercise and help kids enjoy their commute.
Active Travel to school can help tackle climate change. Climate action must start now and reducing our dependence on cars and fossil fuels plays a big part in that mission. Cycle Buses provide an environmentally friendly and sustainable way to travel.
Interested in setting up a Cycle Bus?
Fingal County Council's Active Travel department are looking forward to working with additional schools across Fingal to set up Cycle Buses.
Download our Walking and Cycling Bus Starter Pack by clicking here and follow our step-by-step guide
If you'd like to learn more contact [email protected] to enquire.
Fingal County Council is committed to improving road safety throughout the County and to promoting and encouraging the use of sustainable travel modes (walking, cycling & public transport) for all road users for some of, or all of, their daily journeys.
It is the vision of the Council that every child should be able to travel to school in a healthy, sustainable and safe way. The document below provides information on how a school can set up a Cycle Bus and outlines how the setting up of a Cycle Bus can encourage pupils along a route to cycle to school together.
Download our full Cycle Bus guidelines here https://www.fingal.ie/sites/default/files/2021-01/fcc-cycle-bus-guidelines.pdf
A walking school bus is a healthy, environmentally friendly, safe and fun way to travel to and from school. It is a scheme that involves parent volunteers walking children to school along a set route.
- Helps children and adults fit a little bit of exercise into every day
- Reduces car traffic around the school and in your neighbourhood, this means fewer children sitting in slow moving cars or breathing fumes
- It’s a great way to get to know your neighbours and for children to make friends
- Children learn valuable road safety skills and gain some independence
- Improves community links between parents, neighbours, teachers, An Garda Siochána your Council
Each walking bus has an adult ‘driver’ at the front and an adult ‘conductor’ at the rear. The children walk to school in a group, led by their ‘driver’, along a set route picking up additional ‘passengers’ at preset ‘bus-stops’ along the way.
The first step in setting up any walking bus is identifying a group of parents interested in leading it out. By gathering just a small group of involved parents and guardians you’ll find this will be a once-a-week commitment for most.
Once you have your group, contact your Fingal Walking & Cycling Officer through [email protected] and they will assist you with route planning, health and safety and anything else you need to get started and support you as you bring your schools walking bus to life.
Interested in setting up a cycle bus or walking bus for your school community? Email [email protected] to talk to us and access support
BELOW:
The children at St. Patricks Junior National School in Skerries enjoy a happy commute to school by walking bus. Find out how this works for families.
St. Marnock's National School Portmarnock launched their Cycle Bus in 2022 and we joined them for a morning cycle to school to find out more about how and why a Cycle Bus works for the parents, teachers and children. Watch the video below to find out.
