A New Way to Ride to School
Many communities have formed bike buses, groups of kids and adults who ride their bikes to school together.
Courtesy of © Jonathan Maus/BikePortland
Sam Balto (center, wearing neon safety vest) poses with the Portland, Oregon, bike bus in 2022.
In Montclair, New Jersey, many kids ride buses to school. But once a week, a growing number of the town’s elementary school students get to school using the power of their own two legs. They’re part of Montclair’s “bike bus,” a group of kids and adults who ride their bikes to school together every Friday.
Now in its third year, the Montclair bike bus includes up to 400 people who follow a 5-mile (8-kilometer) route, stopping at each of the town’s elementary schools. (Some kids join the bus along the way.) All participants wear helmets, and adult volunteers wear fluorescent safety vests.
Traveling by bike is Earth-friendly and a great form of exercise. But in many places, the streets are too busy for kids to ride their bikes alone. With the bike bus system, there’s safety in numbers—and many kids say it’s more fun than riding on the school bus.
“It’s not like being on the bus,” said one young participant. “You’re outside, but you’re also biking to school with your friends.”
Montclair isn’t the only community that has started a bike bus. There are hundreds of others in the United States, plus more in Spain, Australia, and other countries.
Courtesy of © Jonathan Maus/BikePortland
In this 2022 photo, children and parents ride to Alameda Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, as part of a weekly bike bus.
In the United States, bike buses began with Sam Balto, a teacher from Portland, Oregon. Balto was inspired to start a Portland bike bus after he saw a video of a bike bus in Barcelona, Spain. Balto now leads his local group every week. He’s also the founder of Bike Bus World, which gives communities the information they need to start their own bike buses. In Portland, bike bus volunteers have seen the benefits firsthand.
“It’s great to see kids, rain or shine, getting out there and being active and just the joy that they show, and how excited they are to see their friends,” Brian Sniffen, a bike bus volunteer in Portland, said in a Bike Bus World video. “It’s really amazing.”
