Transport for London10,000 reasons to cycle to school
'These are first class facilities for the next generation of London cyclists
Students at the college in Tower Hamlets did not previously have the facilities needed to cycle to school.
Thanks to the Mayor's School Cycle Parking Programme, Transport for London (TfL) has installed a secure, covered cycle park at the school with parking and locker facilities for 60 students.
The cycle park was installed at the college as part of their school travel plan, which identified the strong desire of the students to be able to cycle to school.
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: 'Too few pupils have the opportunity to cycle to school.
'We're working to change that in London through our support of cycle training for children, and through my school cycle parking programme.
'Ten thousand new school cycle parking spaces have been installed, in more than 400 schools and colleges across London, since the scheme began in 2004.
Cycling habit
'It is helping thousands of kids to get on their bikes.'
Jenny Jones, the Mayor's Green Transport Advisor, said: 'These are first class facilities for the next generation of London cyclists.
'We want young people to get the cycling habit, so that they grow up thinking that it is just as much a regular part of London life as getting on the bus, or Tube.'
One in five cars on the road during the morning rush hour are on the school run, but school travel plans are helping to change that.
Fewer car journeys
Schools in London with an approved travel plan have seen an average seven per cent reduction in the number of car journeys made - that was the equivalent of two million fewer car journeys in 2006/07.
David Brown, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: 'By linking the provision of good quality cycle parks, TfL is able to ensure that facilities are provided to schools where there is both a genuine need for cycle parking and that cycling to the schools is organised and safe.'
Paramjit Bhutta, Head Teacher at Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College said: 'At Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College, every child matters.
'Until now, our students haven't been able to cycle because we haven't had anywhere for them to leave their bikes.
'The cycle park is a wonderful new addition to our school, not just because it will give students the opportunity to enjoy the freedom of cycling, but also because it will help set patterns of healthy lifestyles and environmental awareness that we hope will last a lifetime.'
Notes to editors:
- More than 1,600 schools (53 per cent of all schools) in the Capital now have a school travel plan. The Mayor of London has set a target for all schools in the Capital to have a travel plan by 2009
- When all of London's schools have a travel plan it is estimated a further 4.5 million car journeys a year will be saved, reducing CO2 emissions, congestion and improving Londoner's health
- This year, TfL are investing £1.2 million on the Mayor's school cycling parking programme
- In Tower Hamlets, 82 of its 111 schools already have approved travel plans. Since January 2004 TfL has provided cycle parking facilities in 11 schools within Tower Hamlets, providing more than 200 parking spaces at a cost of around £100,000. This year, 34 schools in the borough have included the need for cycle parking facilities in their approved School Travel Plans and have been invited to join the Mayor's school cycle parking
- Thirty-five per cent of school pupils in London travel to school by car
- London has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people cycling, with an 83 per cent increase on London's major roads since 2000
- The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured has fallen by 31 per cent compared with the government baselines figures from the mid to late 1990s
