Working with young people
Bike It
The Bike It project is a practical scheme that delivers an intensive pro-cycling educational programme to schools. Monitoring carried out by Sustrans' Research and Monitoring Unit has shown that Bike It has been successful in increasing levels of cycling among pupils.
The monitoring and evaluation for this project consists of:
- pre and post Hands Up Surveys
- surveys with school staff and local authorities
- activity logs
- counts of parked bicycles.
During the 2009-2010 academic year the Bike It project has successfully increased levels of cycling among pupils at Bike It schools across England:
- pupils cycling to school regularly (once a week or more) increased from 14% to 27%
- pupils cycling to school every day increased from 4% to 9% and pupils who never cycle to school reduced from 72% to 53%
- 98% of school staff who were surveyed said that they thought levels of cycling had increased at their school since Bike It began
- 78% of local authority representatives who were surveyed said that they thought Bike It had had a positive impact on the number of children cycling to school.
As well as the standard monitoring, the Research and Monitoring Unit carries out in depth research on Bike It. Focus groups are being carried out in 2011 with Bike It pupils to find out more about the impacts the project has.
I Bike
The I Bike project delivers a pro-cycling educational programme to schools in Edinburgh and Perth. Impact monitoring carried out by Sustrans' Research and Monitoring Unit has shown that I Bike has been successful in achieving its aims.
The monitoring and evaluation for this project consists of:
- pre and post Hands Up Surveys
- surveys with school staff, parents, and local authorities
- activity logs
- counts of parked bicycles.
The I Bike project has increased levels of cycling in schools in Edinburgh and Perth. This project is in its first year and so far has been implemented over a six month period during 2009-2010:
- pupils regularly cycling to school increased from 11% to 19%
- pupils who reported they never cycle to school reduced from 73% to 60%
- boys cycling outside of school every day increased from 20% to 27%
- girls cycling outside of school every day increased from 7% to 13%
- 100% of the school staff would recommend I Bike to other schools.
Hands Up Scotland
Since 2008, the Hands Up Scotland Survey has been delivered by Sustrans in partnership with local authorities in Scotland. Conducted in September, the one-question survey asks pupils how they travelled to school that day. Sustrans' Research and Monitoring Unit collates and analyses the results and produces a national report for the Scottish Government and all participating local authorities. It is intended for Hands Up Scotland to become an Official Statistic, with the results of the 2011 survey scheduled for release in June 2012.
- 49.3% of pupils surveyed in 2010 said they normally travel to school in an active way (walking, cycling, using a scooter or a skateboard)
- walking was the most frequent form of active travel in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2010 45.8% of pupils said they normally walk to school, 2.8% said they usually cycle and 0.7% said they normally scoot or skate
- in 2010 22.9% of pupils said they are normally driven to school ,18.2% of pupils said they normally take the bus, 7.4% are driven part of the way and walk the rest (park and stride), 1.6% take a taxi and 0.5% normally travel to school by other means.
Active in Ashington
The Active in Ashington report is a summary of two survey sessions undertaken by Sustrans Research and Monitoring Unit with youth participants of the Active in Ashington weekly free bicycle repair drop in sessions. The survey aimed to gather qualitative data about how the sessions had affected the amount youth participants cycle, for what reasons as well as other benefits.
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