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Norfolk County Council says it needs to save £1.3m on home-to-school transport. But it still needs to get children to their classrooms every day.
Its solution? To offer 22,000 young people who live more than three miles from school a free bicycle to keep. Any school student who currently gets bus or taxi fares paid will qualify. Electric bikes are being loaned to older pupils who have further to travel.
Mary Roche, the transport policy manager, believes it's a win-win solution.
"It does help towards health and wellbeing as well as keeping cost down for us," she says. "It's much cheaper to provide a cycle than a bus pass."
Whether the children will agree on a dark and rain-drenched morning remains to be seen.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8538686.stm
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