Safe cycling routes to school in the new "Pupils' Cycle Route Network".

It is very easy to use: select the school, enter the starting address and have the route calculated. This is how easy it is to use the "Pupil Cycle Route Planner" for the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. Jens Deutschendorf, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Housing, First District Councillor Karl-Friedrich Frese and Stefanie Hartlep, Project Manager at the Gesellschaft für Integriertes Verkehrs- und Mobilitätsmanagement Region Frankfurt RheinMain (ivm), officially launched the planner at www.schuelerradrouten.de today.

Strengthen cycling in Waldeck-Frankenberg
Those who cycle to school on two wheels do something for their health, strengthen their awareness for the school day and act in an environmentally conscious way. "To ensure that schoolchildren also get on their bikes with confidence and safely, we have now developed a school cycle route network for the Waldeck-Frankenberg district," explains Karl-Friedrich-Frese, First District Councillor of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district. The cycle route planner is another important step to strengthen cycling in the district - also for young people - and to contribute to the traffic turnaround.

"With the project in the Waldeck-Frankenberg district, we are reaching another milestone towards a Hesse-wide network of school cycle routes," explains State Secretary for Transport Jens Deutschendorf. "The network of school cycle routes enables pupils to get to school safely and comfortably and to be independently mobile. 610 secondary schools in Hesse are already connected to the network of school cycle routes, which now has a total length of around 9,400 kilometres."

Independent and safe mobility
The "Pupil Cycle Route Planner" is a project of the Specialist Centre for School Mobility Management. This is located at the ivm (Society for Integrated Traffic and Mobility Management in the Frankfurt RhineMain Region) and is financed by the state of Hesse with a total of 3.75 million euros until 2026. The Specialist Centre for School Mobility Management supports Hessian schools, school authorities and municipalities with free services in the implementation of school mobility management in order to enable independent and safe mobility for pupils on their way to school.

Involved schools
Together with the schools in the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg, and with the support of the commissioned cooperative office from Kassel, school cycling routes were developed for all locations of the 25 secondary schools in the district. At three of these schools, there were also in-depth project days with the pupils. "We involved those who are to use the routes and the route planner that was released today," says Karl-Friedrich Frese. "Especially in the district, it was not always easy to find suitable routes - so it was all the more important that we carried out broad stakeholder participation."

In autumn 2022, the route proposals were coordinated with representatives of schools, politics, administration and the police in so-called pupil cycle route advisory councils and have now been published in the pupil cycle route planner Hessen by the ivm as the coordinating body. "This procedure for creating pupil cycle route networks has now been successfully implemented in 16 districts and all independent cities in Hessen. We are thus creating a good basis for more trust in the bicycle as a means of transport to school - also on the part of parents," explained Stefanie Hartlep, project manager at the ivm.

Improving the cycling infrastructure
The finished "pupil cycle route network" covers the entire district, always with a five-kilometre radius around the respective school. In addition to the best cycling routes, the presentation in the school cycling route planner also includes so-called attention points that point out special traffic situations. In addition, cycling profiles will soon be available for the connected schools, including information on the condition and possible further development of the bicycle parking facilities.

For schools and also municipalities, participation in the project opens up great potential: in the advisory boards, stakeholders from the world of transport and schools came together and established sustainable communication channels that can later be used for further projects on the topic of schools and mobility. "All participating municipalities receive valuable advice on how to improve their cycling infrastructure," adds Deutschendorf. "The project supports the promotion of cycling and our efforts to ensure safe routes to school.


Keywords:

Department of Construction Cycling in Waldeck-Frankenberg