Galway City Council today announced free parking across the city as part of their ‘Park and Stride’ school run initiative.
‘Park and Stride’ is an initiative by Galway City Council to encourage parents to park ten minutes from the school gate and finish the journey by foot.
According to Galway City Council, research shows that children who are active on the commute have higher levels of concentration in the classroom, with Park and Stride one of the measures recommended by the HSE for the return to school.
Speaking about the launch of Park and Stride, Arlene Finn of the Transport section of Galway City Council mentioned the health benefits that can be gained from parents and kids taking part.
“Galway City Council is delighted to have the support of local businesses and organisations for Park and Stride, where parents or guardians can use a participating car park free of charge, where charges would normally apply, for a short period of time while they walk their child to school. Designated parking times at participating car parks are 1 hour max between 8.00am to 9.30am, and 1 hour max, from 1.00pm to 4.30pm. Park and Stride has great benefits for the wider school community.”
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Tiarnan McCusker, Green-Schools Travel Officer, highlighted that parent as well as children will benefit from this initiative.
“It’s not just the kids who’ll be getting fresh air, a stretch of their legs and some time to chat with their favourite people, you’ll be getting some exercise too! For parents or grandparents doing the walk to and from the car, Park and Stride can work up 15–20 minutes towards the recommended 30 minutes of physical exercise we should all be doing every day.
Park and Stride supports the Galway Transport Strategy, a package of measures to manage car traffic, and to support those living, studying, working and visiting Galway to move around the city more easily on foot, by bike and on public transport.
The Strategy, which spans a 20 year period, represents a partnership approach between Galway City Council, Galway County Council and the National Transport Authority.