The traffic free routes for kids to bike to work is genius. The only reason we are worried about our 8 year old biking to work is that she doesn't have good presence to stop at intersections. I think it is a great idea, though, and glad I can tell her I bike to work every day. Looking forward to her biking, as well.
I volunteer for UK cycling charity Sustrans. Whenever I've helped out at a stand at a local fair/festival, the number one question is always parents asking "Where can we take our kids to ride without traffic?".
Fortunately the UK is very slowly catching on to what has been standard practice in the Netherlands and Denmark for years, but outside London progress is still glacially slow. As an example: the cycle track mentioned by awjr in Oxford (along Marston Ferry Road) was put in in the 1970s. It's outstanding, and a huge success. Yet Oxford hasn't built anything like it since.
It's had a profound impact on their society. That's not to say the country does not suffer from congestion, just most journeys under 7km are done by foot or bicycle and the health benefits are huge despite their rather calorific diets ;)
The level of child travel independence alone in the Netherlands is almost alien to other countries.
>The level of child travel independence alone in the Netherlands is almost alien to other countries.
This was so evident when I was there. Just the number of kids biking to school together, not with a parent, and at such a young age... it was really cool.
I live in a small town in the middle of the US. Our schools have very large numbers of kids who bike every day. Probably aided by the lack of busy roads in town and a commonly shared culture that biking and free range kids are ok.
