Bike Bus is the simple act of riding bikes to school and is becoming a global movement. Some of the benefits include promoting physical health and academic readiness in children, building community, reducing car pollution and congestion, and more.

I started a bike bus in my community and it’s been very positive. I created this post to help anyone else who might be interested in starting or joining one. Let’s ride!

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My Why

When my son learned to ride a bike at 4 years old, I had thoughts about biking to school before I knew what a bike bus was. Riding bikes to school isn’t very common where I live in Uniontown, PA, but I noticed it was more common in other states I lived (e.g. Arizona, Alaska, etc).

He attended a preschool that was less than a mile from our house and it felt doable to me. But the school told me he couldn’t bike because they didn’t want me to leave his bike at school. They did allow me to ride my son to school on my bike, so on warmer weather days, I rode my bike and put him in our Topeak BabySeat.

Around that same time, I noticed a video going viral of a large group of kids riding together to school in a group, called a bike bus, facilitated by a PE teacher from Oregon, Coach Balto and I was instantly amazed.

I began to follow the bike bus movement on Coach Balto’s account and eventually felt inspired to start my own bike bus when my son entered elementary school.

If you are interested in starting one, here are some suggestions.

Consider Finding Other Families

First, I got to talking with a neighbor who also noticed bike bus videos. I gauged her interest for her and her son to join us. She said they would be interested, and I think that really made me want to give it a try. But looking back, if she would have said no, I hope I wouldn’t have let a possible no from her discourage me from starting.

If it’s just you and your child, that is enough to start a bike bus. Also you don’t need a fancy cargo bike like me, a regular bike is just fine. Or you can explore other forms of active transportation such as skateboards, scooters, or a walking group.

When I decided to give it a go, this is the video that really encouraged me to make it happen.

Don’t feel bad if you if you feel like you can’t start a bike bus where you live. I look at built environments in other communities and there are times I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable biking with kids in some other places. We are fortunate to live a few residential streets away from our neighborhood school, so that is why I was inspired to do it.

Consider Talking to the School

Before we started, I asked the school’s permission and thankfully they were in full support. But looking back, it probably wasn’t necessary to get permission. It just might be something you want to make the school aware of. My kids typically ride the bus to school. On bike bus days, I simply message the teachers on our school app and request they be dismissed as walkers.

The lack of an available bike rack didn’t discourage us from starting either. We lock the bikes to a railing and the school is talking about getting us a bike rack.

A teacher told me she looks out the window to watch us arrive. We even had an administrator ride with us one day and the kids were very excited about it.

Map a Route

I didn’t want to force the bike bus on my son. But, we decided to go for it in the spring of his first grade year when he told me he was agreeable to the idea.

Our neighborhood public school requires crossing a busy road and an uphill pedal and as I monitored his riding in Kindergarten, I didn’t think he was quite ready for the ride until he was in first grade. I suppose we could have started with a Topeak BabySeat or biking with a TowWhee. But, I just decided to wait until he was independent and more confident on his bike.

I outlined a route where we cross the busy road at the safest possible place and we break up the hill zig-zagging residential roads and utilizing alleys that have less car traffic.

We practiced our route after school a few times so we could familiarize ourselves with the route and get a rough estimate of how long it would take to appropriately plan for the mornings.

Planning for Bike Bus Days

Finally, we decided to go for it. I asked my neighbors what day of the week would work best and we committed to that day weekly. I suggest picking a day and sticking to it weekly. Our neighbors didn’t join for the first two or so times, but they joined after that. So the first couple of bike buses was just me and my son and that was fine.

After our first spring, we picked right back up the following fall when we started to grow in number. During our first fall season, my son was in second grade and my daughter in Kindergarten decided to join riding in our cargo bike as she continues to practice on her own bike.

I typically keep a close eye on the weather and text the other bike bus parents the day before our regular day. It might be helpful to have a threshold of weather in mind. For us, we generally aim to ride when it’s above 40 degrees. Naturally we take a break over winter.

We designate a time and place in our neighborhood to meet up where we greet each other, go over some rules and reminders, pump up the kids with music, and start the ride to school.

I typically hang out in front and lead and then I have another adult bring up the rear so we keep the kids between us.

As far as school dismissal, we parents meet again in the afternoon at our meeting spot, bike to the school for dismissal, and then we all bike back together home with the kids.

Gear

Beyond the necessary bikes and helments, here is some additional gear to consider:

Reflections

I have witnessed so many positive impacts as a result of our bike bus.

The kids on the bike bus are experiencing joy, building confidence, and supporting each other. There are many days I think it’s too cold and no one will want to do it and the kids are the ones demanding we go.

While I have witnessed occasional nervousness or meltdowns, I have seen the kids push themselves and motivate each other. If someone needs to walk their bike up the hill for example, we all wait for each other at the top.

We are building community while getting to know our community more exploring it by bikes. The kids are also learning there are more ways to get around other than a car.

I noticed other kids showing an interest in learning to ride a bike so they can join the bike bus. Some parents are learning to ride a bike for the first time too. And many families are riding bikes outside of the bike bus for recreation.

While we get some funny looks from cars, we also notice many drivers and people in the community cheering us on.

Here is a sweet message I received from a neighbor on my street.

We even had a group of high schoolers join us one day. Our bike bus kids felt so cool when the older kids wanted to join and doubling in size felt electric.

Overall, starting a bike bus has been a wonderful experience. I’m glad I decided to go for it and I hope it continues to grow. If you have been thinking about starting a bike bus, I hope this post inspires you to give it a go. Be sure to tag me on Instagram (@adventureswkelly) if you go for it so I can see your bike bus and don’t forget to add your bike bus to the map. Happy bike busing!