Cycling & Census 2022

I was thinking recently about how the % of people cycling might have increased by a few % and what impact that might have on future infrastructure planning as spending and planning is based off the census figures.

It occurred to me that even if there was a 5-8% bump in the numbers regularly cycling, it might not drive that much additional positive change based on how things have gone in the past and how changes to infrastructure have been received during covid.

However there is one thing that I think may force the hands of local authorities and govt into increasing the quality and quantity of safe cycling infrastructure and that is the growth of cycle buses.

For those not aware, a cycle bus is a collection of parents and kids cycling in the morning to the local primary schools with a set route and schedule. It started in 2018 in Galway city with one parent/teacher doing it with his own and the kids & parents in his school and it has grown exponentially over the last 2-3 years where there are now 5 I think in Galway alone, several in Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Kerry too I believe.

One of the great things that have come out of these is kids who were escorted for a year have basically graduated after they gained the skills and confidence to cycle on their own. In addition these kids often motivate their mates to cycle too due to a variety of reasons.

As a result the amount of bikes in schools being served by cycle buses has exploded while the amount in the buses themselves has remained more or less constant.

Another example is school streets, where they close off a school area to through traffic, essentially pedestrianizing it for a few hours a day. The current % of children cycling to primary school is less than 3%. A school streets program for one primary school in Galway has brought that to near 13% for that school or greater than 4 times the national avg, in one year, for one school.

So, in areas where cycle buses are in operation the %'s will be a lot higher and to a lesser extent, the same will apply for the few areas that are part of the govt funded school streets program.

To sum up, I think (hope) that the growth of cycle buses will push these %'s higher all over the place over the next year so that come census, the figures will show that there are hundreds of kids mixing with motor traffic and that the onus is on the govt & councils to ensure they can get to and from schools safely.

But alas, who knows if they will take this seriously or just plod along until x number of kids are killed and it takes mass protests to get something done.