Communities across the US are pulling together to encourage kids to get on their bicycles to get to school.
This phenomenon, where locals organize a “bike bus” for the commute to school, is on the rise in America, challenging and reshaping traditional transportation policy - and bringing multiple benefits.
Along with reduced air pollution, traffic congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions, bike buses increase health and joy, and strengthen community bonds. They can encourage the improvement of bicycle-friendly infrastructure and are even being incorporated into law, changing the allocation of school transportation funds.
Sam Balto, a teacher who launched a bike bus, then worked with lawmakers to change Oregon law, said: “The bill brings flexibility so school districts can now use student transportation funds, which were previously only for school buses, to pay for crossing guards or adults to lead walking school buses or bike buses. It’s awesome.”
“The more these kids practice riding bikes, the more confident they become and now they want to keep riding on non-bike bus days. Even on rainy days, kids are riding now because they have the gear and they really don't like sitting in their parents' cars,” Balto told Distilled.
Nancy Pullen-Seufert, the director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School told Distilled that biking and walking to school have myriad benefits including “improving air quality, improving safety for walkers and bicyclists, increasing physical activity, improving congestion and making it easier for school buses and others who can’t actively travel to school to arrive to school on time.”