Children may get free bike in exchange for giving up bus pass

hundreds of York school children may be able to swap their bus passes for a free bike under a new school travel plan which could also save hard-pressed chargepayers money.

Walking and cycling to school are to be at the heart of the new strategy being drawn up by York Council as the guiding light of getting pupils to class.

Officials are to be instructed to investigate the introduction of a one-off cycle allowance for use in purchasing a bicycle and equipment – or a loan scheme – in place of free bus travel for those that want it and are eligible

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However, the reality is that the option may only be available to certain pupils because of the logistics of school bus travel in York, officers say.

Andrew Docherty, Assistant Director Legal, Governance & ITT, explained: "The idea of moving pupils from buses to bikes is something that the Access & Community Transport Team would support in principle and there are good examples of where this type of approach could be trialled. "However, the current position in York is that 1,632 pupils are transported by dedicated contracted home to school bus/coaches.

"This means the Access & Community Transport Team do not purchase individual passes but contract a number of vehicles to transport these pupils on a day to day basis.

"Moving these pupils to bicycles would mean the Access & Community Transport Team purchasing a bicycle voucher but not necessarily reducing the number of contracted vehicles.

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"So this may mean rather than reducing costs it could result in an increase in costs."

But potential savings could be made for the 411 pupils for whom the Access & Community Transport Team currently buy bus passes from operators such as First, & Pullman.

"By moving these pupils to bicycles, it would reduce the cost as a bicycle voucher would be cheaper than a bus pass," Mr Docherty continued. "We currently spend about 151k a year on bus passes. The average cost per child per year of being transported on a dedicated home to school transport bus or being provided with a bus pass to travel on a public service route to a mainstream school is 495.

"To make it financially viable to the council, there may need to be a minimum period set before pupils could go back to a bus pass, say 12 months or 24 months.

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"There may also be a financial impact in regard to the administration of any scheme and staff training, and this would need to be identified as part of the investigation work, should the recommendation be approved."

Also on the cards could be a shake-up of the work of civil enforcement officers so they can spend more time patrolling for parking offenders outside schools.

However, there are concerns that the city may be already doing more than its share of enforcement around school sites.

Communities & Neighbourhoods Parking Services Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) undertake the enforcement of parking restrictions throughout the city. Parking restrictions are applicable to 38 schools in the local authority area.

Visits are scheduled at two patrols per week

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Mr Docherty added: "Last year 30 penalty charge notices were issued around York schools which is a higher number than some other authorities.

"Any change to the amount of time spent enforcing parking restrictions elsewhere in the city – i.e. not outside schools – may affect the number of penalty charge notices issued.

"At this stage it is not clear what effect this will have on the amount of revenue gathered annually from these."

The final report of the School Travel Plans Ad Hoc Scrutiny Committee will be considered by council leaders on January 18.

Any member of the public wanting to speak must register by 5pm on January 17.

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