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Northants' free bikes for students plan slammed due to "road danger"

Opposition councillors say roads too risky as council turns to bikes amid budget cuts

Opposition councillors in Northamptonshire have called plans to provide students with free bicycles instead of bus passes, which the county council says will help them assert their independence, “disgraceful.”

Faced with having to make cuts to the £719,000 it currently spends each year on providing free bus travel to 16 to 19 year olds to schools and colleges, the council has said that it will now meet only half the cost for students who have learning or other disabilities, or whose families are on low incomes.

Some of those youths will be given the opportunity to participate in a scheme under which the council will provide them with a free bike, cycle training, and a grant towards the cost of maintenance, according to local newspaper the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.

The criticism of the scheme, which is reported to cost £30,000 a year, appears grounded in a perception that the county’s roads are too dangerous to cycle on, but instead of looking at ways in which safety might be improved, opponents are calling for the initiative to be scrapped altogether.

Quoted in the Chronicle and Echo, former county councillor John Yates, who is described as a long-time supporter of free bus travel, said: "It seems you've just taken on the Norman Tebbit approach of saying 'get on your bike'. But would you be prepared to cycle six miles every day on our county's dangerous roads, which have high accident rates? It's disgraceful."

Politically, of course, we live in the proverbial interesting times with the country coming to terms with a coalition government, and in a reversal of the situation one might normally expect, it is the ruling Conservative group on Northamptonshire County Council that is championing the greener travel option, with Labour voicing its opposition to the scheme, which has now been approved by the council’s cabinet.

Indeed, councillor John McGhee, leader of the Labour opposition group, echoed concerns regarding safety of the scheme: "To say to people get on your bike and cycle to school on some of our dangerous roads is ridiculous,” he said. “After 12 months I would like to see a report to say how many children have actually come off their bikes."

However, the council’s cabinet member for transport, Councillor Heather Smith (Con, Prebendal) disagreed, saying: "We're trying to get people to use alternative ways of moving around the county rather than just getting in the car all the time. We take into account the risks, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be working to promote a more healthy and active lifestyle for our young people."

According to Department for Transport figures four child cyclists were killed or seriously injured on the roads of Northamptonshire in 2007 out of a total of 22 cyclists killed or seriously injured, 15 child pedestrians were killed or seriously injured on the county's roads in the same period. In nearby Nottinhamshire 17 child cyclists were killed or seriously injured that year and 32 child pedestrians. The DfT figures would suggest that children on foot are in more danger than those cycling and that while much work could be done to improve road safety Northamptonshire's roads are not exceptionally dangerous.
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
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Well, these kids are between 16 and 19 so very few of them will be having any growth spurts and even with a grant towards maintenance the council are still saving money.

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Zaskar | 13 years ago
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Also biologically these kids will have different heights and how long will the bike fit for during a growth phase.

While I think encouraging cycling is one thing, the so called cuts could use this money to save jobs and allow people to buy bikes with the money they have earned.

If parents can't afford a cheap Halfords bike then how do they expect to maintain one.

Grumpy eh?  19

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Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
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I've just updated this with some stats on the relative safety of Northamptonshire's roads. Slightly worrying to see that the government has already cut spending on road safety though http://road.cc/content/news/18558-sustrans-urges-government-consider-cyc...

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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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Sounds like another Daily Mail reader in the council.

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wild man | 13 years ago
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Free government bikes will inevitably mean useless pig- iron supermarket specials designed to put young people off cycling for life. Give those who need it a transport grant and let them spend it as they choose.

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