New bike-to-school initiative proving a hit with pupils

Up to 30 children a day are commuting to school on their bike courtesy of a novel ‘cycling bus’ created in Knocknacarra.

Bus Rothaíochta na Gaillimhe or the Galway Cycling Bus takes in a 2km route from Cappagh Park to Knocknacarra National School and Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh every day during school term along the Western Distributor Road.

The cyclists use a mix of cycle lanes and the road while guided by at least four volunteer marshals and some parents along one of the busiest commuting routes in the city.

The convoy begins at Cappagh Road at 8.10am and stops off at all major estates with students joining the single file at the back until reaching their destination by 8.30am.

The initiative attracted 18 on the first day it began this term, with a high of 30 pupils at its most popular. The lowest number fell to 14 on a particularly wet day.

St Enda’s College secondary school teacher Alan Curran set up the cycling bus so that he could cycle his five-year-old son Éanna to Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh.
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