Sir, – In advance of the new school year commencing, I would urge parents to consider this gentle appeal. According to CSO 2022 data, almost one million children will be commuting to school shortly. The percentage of primary school children going to school by car increased from 24 per cent in 1986 to 55 per cent in 2022, with 41 per cent of children travelling as a car passenger to secondary school. The numbers of children walking, cycling and travelling by bus has dropped dramatically over the same period. Nationally, average journey times for primary school-aged children is just 12 minutes, and 20 minutes for children aged 13 to 18 years. However, 30 per cent of rush-hour traffic in Dublin is related to school runs, which adds significantly to congestion. Many journeys by car to school are short. So many parents are in a position to leave the car at home and travel with their children on foot, bike or public transport, or encourage their older children to cycle to school. This is habit change, a small lifestyle tweak. Please consider it. – Yours, etc,
KEN REID,
Sallynoggin,
Co Dublin.