Half a million pounds of funding secures bike and scooter parking for over 100 West Yorkshire schools

16 June 2022

Over 1300 bike parking spaces and over 1200 scooter parking spaces have been delivered through the scheme. Parking has been installed in all five districts of West Yorkshire, with Calderdale benefiting the most from the funding, which was delivered through the Combined Authority’s CityConnect programme. 

The ability to safely store a bike or scooter at a school is an important factor in transport choice, with high-quality facilities making it much more likely that parents will allow their children to ride or scoot to school. 

Choosing active travel such as walking, cycling or scooting helps reduce pollution around schools and reduce road congestion for families who have no option but to drive, making the school run easier, safer and healthier for everyone. 

Less cars on the road helps break the school run “vicious circle”, where families, feeling that active travel is unsafe because of the volume of traffic around their children’s school, feel they have no choice but to drive their children to school and exacerbate the problem. 

Robert Fox, Headteacher of Longroyde Primary School in Brighouse, said: 

“Here at Longroyde Primary, we have seen the positive impact of scooter and bicycle storage on both our infants and junior sites. The children aged from 4-11 years love to bring their bicycles and scooters every day making good use of our School Street in order to arrive safely whist breathing clean air.  

“Seeing children using the storage has inspired others to get free wheeling and we now run term time and holiday cycling courses attracting children from around the area to learn about the benefits of healthy lifestyle.  

“The funding for bicycle and scooter storage from West Yorkshire Combined Authority has been the catalyst for an explosion of interest in exercise and healthy travel to school; we are very grateful to you.” 

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: 

“This Clean Air Day, I want to continue to make good on my election pledge to tackle the climate emergency. West Yorkshire children understand the importance of reducing carbon emissions in our atmosphere – they’re the people in our region who will be impacted by climate change the most.  

“Pollution from cars around schools is a real concern for many parents and children, but many people feel forced to drive. I know from talking to people across our region that not having a secure place to store a bike or scooter is a real barrier to getting to school without a lift. 

“Well-designed and plentiful bike and scooter parking helps make it practical for children and their families to lead the way to a sustainable West Yorkshire with fresh, clean air for everyone.” 

Cllr Manisha Kaushik, Deputy Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, and Chair of the Active Travel Working Group, said: 

“It’s great to see this funding getting where it’s needed in West Yorkshire, especially in Calderdale where an amazing 72 new installations are planned. It’s been very satisfying to see so many funding bids come in from schools who recognise that active travel is the future of the school run. 

“We want to make active travel the natural choice for most short journeys, and for children, help them start a lifelong habit that brings a lifetime of benefits. If your children don’t currently walk, scoot or cycle to school, and you think this could be a practical option for you, I urge you to consider making the change.” 

If you’re thinking about including more active travel in your school run, we have resources to help. Visit our website, CityConnect, to learn about family cycling or adult cycle training, or use our Journey Planner to help plan your children’s route to school.