Numbers driven to school rises - survey

Forty per cent of students in the greater Dublin area who are driven to school every day live less than two kilometres away, a survey has revealed.

According to the Dublin Transportation Office, 125,000 pupils in the Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow area are driven to their place of education each day, an increase of 6 per cent on 2002 figures.

The number of primary school children being driven to school is also on the rise, with about 50 per cent of them taken to school by car.

The number of second-level students using cars to get to school has risen 8 per cent to 31 per cent of all secondary school students.

The number of students using the bus to get to school or college has fallen significantly, however, from 23 per cent in 2002 to 18 per cent in 2006, while there are more than 3,000 fewer walking trips to school every day, a fall of 1 per cent on 2002.

Some 36 per cent of primary students walk to school, compared to 35 per cent of secondary students.

Third-level students are more frequent users of public transport, with 54 per cent using it to get to college. More than 20 per cent walk, while 18 per cent take the car.

The DTO released the research as part of its new "One Small Step" campaign to encourage people to reduce their car usage for some trips each week, replacing it with walking, cycling or using public transport wherever possible.

"Traffic flows around schools do contribute to the wider problems of congestion throughout the Greater Dublin Area," said DTO director John Henry. "Some car users consider that the distance to their local school or college is too far to walk, and others cite road safety for children to be an issue."