Workshop H 7, Thursday 22 June, 11.00 - 12.30

Cycle promotion amongst elderly people and youngsters

Gayle Cummins, Executive Director, Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, USA W. Preston Tyree, Education Director, Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, USA One Million Students on Bicycles; Bicycles for Transportation and Health in Texas Encouraging 10-12 year old students to use bicycles for transportation by providing education on techniques and safe roadway riding habits can support other programs designed to promote activity for health and wellness. To achieve universal coverage of bicycle education in the United States requires acceptance of the discipline by the public and private school systems. This paper describes a program that has overcome the barriers to introducing a non-academic program in academic systems. Discussion includes development, funding, marketing, implementation and results of such a bicycle curriculum. Other programs have been introduced in school systems but none have attempted introduction to every school child in a state. The public school system in Texas has 1.041 independent school districts with 3.656 schools teaching 10-12 year olds and 600.000 students in these two grades. The major barrier to introduction of this program has been marketing it to the independent school districts. In Texas each school district makes decisions on what programs are introduced. Some school districts allow individual schools to make the decision. In this environment, getting the program into the schools becomes strictly a marketing effort. The marketing of the program proposes two overall strategies: 1) a Direct Strategy is narrowly targeted to teachers and administrators; and 2) an Indirect Strategy, which is intended to motivate parents to advocate to the school district's management. Each of these approaches has its unique problems. This paper explains the marketing efforts, successes and failures of the program.

Mario Kramer, Fietsersbond, The Netherlands A course to encourage people to stay on the bike The Fietsersbond in The Netherlands has developed a course for elderly people, who is called ‘Save and healthy on the bike’. Because we think it will encouraging people to stay on the bike. We are convinced that biking is good for health, it is easy to do shopping, it is nice to go out in nature, you stay mobile.