Push to help children commute by bike, bus and on foot
There were waterproof jackets for rainy days, on the year-round bike commute.
“And we have bike pants,” she said.
Dad, Rob, bought the e-bike a year ago to avoid traffic on his way to work in town from Marsden Valley in the suburb of Stoke – with the pair taking the car-free cycle and walkway, the Railway Reserve.
“Also to save some money,” he said.
“And save the environment,” Olive added.
Rob didn’t have to park, driving straight into school and work.
St Joseph’s is among four local primary schools involved in a new project, designed to get more children to and from school by walking, biking or taking the bus.
The Travel Friendly initiative is a “sister programme” of Swap One, a project designed to help Nelson cut its carbon emissions, run by local organisations, the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum, Nelsust and Misson Zero.
Nelson City Council last July set a target to cut the community’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an average of 8.3% a year for the next ten years – with transport making up most of the city’s GHG emissions.
Swap One – supported by Nelson City Council and private donors – encouraged people to swap their petrol cars for a low-carbon form of transport at least once a week.
Project lead Jim Sinner said Travel Friendly involved working with school communities “to see what would help them encourage other students to use low carbon transport” on a daily basis.
“We’re calling it travel friendly because the kids have told us that one of the things they like about coming to school [by] either walking or on the bike, is they can socialise with their friends.
“It’s a friendly way to do it, it’s a healthy way to do it, it’s also good for the environment.”
St Joseph’s student Lorenzo Bersico, 12, echoed that.
“It’s just fun.”
Lorenzo biked to school with fellow student, Matteo Musso, who said it was better than getting to school by car.
“It’s good to get out and about and be with nature.
“It’s good fitness, and it’s just good to bike with your friends.”
Nelson Central School, Victory School and Stoke School were current project participants, Sinner said.
St Joseph’s principal Chris Bascand said the initiative was timely, with the school becoming concerned a student could get hurt in the traffic “chaos” next to the school at bell time.
It was a good opportunity to work with neighbouring Nelson Central School, which shared concerns about “huge congestion around our streets, with so many kids coming to school by car”.
The problem was exacerbated by commuters using free car parks next to the school, he said.
St Joseph’s was talking to the city council about next steps, he said.
“It’s actually about educating our parents to explore other ways of getting their children to school, maybe just even parking a block away.”
What children said prevented them biking included not knowing the road rules, and being told off for biking on the footpaths, Bascand said.
Sinner said better cycling infrastructure was in the pipeline in the city, with the council consulting on an East-West cycle link this year.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the cycleway was committed to in the council’s Long Term Plan, but there were complexities in trying to retrofit it.
“There will be issues with how do you align it with the footpath and with residents’ parking. So the design process is going to require careful consultation with the streets and communities affected.”
Wednesday marked the first day of the council’s new rules of lower speed limits in front of schools, supporting the “broader work” of encouraging children to walk or bike to school, he said.
By Katy Jones, Nelson Mail
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