All Aboard The Bike Train--To School

Some people can be enticed into bicycle commuting if it's practical, safe and convenient.  Bike lanes that connect--or at least facilitate connections--between cyclists and everyday destinations like schools and workplaces are one "carrot," if you will.  Another is safe bicycle parking facilities, not only at said schools and workplaces, but also at transportation hubs.  After all, if someone's job is a 45 minute train or bus ride away, he or she isn't likely to pedal all the way.  But that commuter could be persuaded into riding instead of driving to the train or bus station. 

Now, here's something that is rarely, if ever, addressed in planning bicycle (or other transportation) policy and infrastructure:  getting more kids to ride in school.  In some rural areas, where the bus ride might be even longer than it is for a suburban resident's commute to the city office, that might not be practical.  But it could make sense in urban and suburban areas, or even in some small towns, where the trip to school might be a ten-minute bus ride--or a half-hour walk.

The biggest hurdle to getting kids to ride to work, though, might not be convincing the kids themselves.  Rather, it's allaying parents' not-unjustifiable fears for their kids' safety.  But a solution is one that's been in use for some time, though not for bicycling.

On any school day, you might find yourself stopping at an intersection--or somewhere along the path in your local park--by a "train."  I'm not talking about the ones that run on steel rails.  Rather, I am talking about a line of kids who might be latching onto a rope or other line, and supervised by their teacher or aide.  Well, some folks in East Lansing, Michigan are guiding kids to school in the same way:  The kids ride in a line, accompanied by a chaperone who picks each one up along the way.

Photo by Margaret Cahill, from Fox47 News

This "bike train" was organized by Jeff Potter, an aide and substitute teacher at Red Cedar Elementary School who also just happens to be a cyclist.  While he admits that keeping the kids together is "like herding cats," he thinks the "train" is a "community builder."  The kids have a chance to interact with each other on the way to school.  This, he believes, has "improved school behavior and their awareness of the neighborhood." 

Principal Rinard Pugh agrees and adds there is another benefit.  "There's fewer kids in cars," he explains.  That "helps to improve health and fitness" which, he explains, "is really important with our kids coming off COVID."  In addition to getting kids to exercise and interact, it also gets them outside which, Pugh explains, is especially important during the pandemic.

So, bicycle trains not only help to accomplish, for kids, one goal of good bicycle policy:  making bicycling safe and convenient.  In addition, it helps in dealing with the pandemic.  Perhaps more people and communities will get "aboard" with this idea.

To Promote Cycling For Health

Various healthcare and health insurance plans are realizing that encouraging healthy practices and lifestyles are cheaper, in the long run, than paying for expensive medicines and procedures. They offer things like smoking cessation programs and discounts on gym memberships.

I've heard that a few plans, offered by employers, also give discounts for bike commuting-related expenses. So, for example, they won't pay for a $12,000 S-Works racing bike, but they offer vouchers or discounts at participating bike shops.

Now, as a cyclist who writes a bicycle blog, I may just a wee bit biased in saying that if insurance programs will subsidize gym memberships or exercise equipment, they also should do whatever will encourage bicycle commuting and recreational riding.  After all, more than a few people have lost weight and seen their blood pressure and anxiety levels drop after they rode their bikes to work or school for a few months, or even weeks.  

I also believe that encouraging kids to ride bikes to school is a good idea.  I'm thinking, specifically, of kids who live just far enough away from school to make walking a non-viable option, but not so far that they need to take a bus or be driven.  

Matt Milam, the Executive Director of United Healthcare of Nebraska seems to understand as much. He has announced that his organization is giving away bicycle helmets and cash prizes to kids in two of the state's school districts.  One reason for doing this, he says, is "encouraging healthy activity." He observes, "active kids grow up to be healthy kids."

I think it's a good start.  Of course, other measures are needed to encourage, not just the kids, but the parents.  And I think that the biggest hurdle to developing lifelong transportation and recreation cyclists is to keep kids on bikes when they start driving.