Piedmont kids ride bikes together after AC transit bus route eliminated
Piedmont kids ride bikes together after AC transit bus route eliminated
A group of elementary school students in the East Bay rode to school together on Friday morning as part of a community-led effort known as a "bike bus."
PIEDMONT, Calif. - A group of elementary school students in the East Bay rode to school together on Friday morning as part of a community-led effort known as a "bike bus."
What we know:
About 20 children arrived by bicycle outside Havens Elementary School in Piedmont after riding together from the Piedmont Hills, roughly a mile away, just after 8 a.m.
Parents organized the group ride to encourage students to bike to school together and to promote safety and independence in numbers.
The backstory:
The idea for the bike bus grew out of necessity about six months ago, after AC Transit eliminated the bus line students had used to travel from upper Piedmont to the center of town because of budget cuts and changes in ridership. The loss of the route left parents and students without a public transit option.
In response, a group of parents calling themselves Piedmont Unplugged organized the bike bus, saying traveling as a group makes the children more visible to drivers and safer, particularly with the bus no longer running in that part of town.
What they're saying:
"We live in the upper part of the neighborhood and for us it was the only access to the school," said Danielle Horowitz of Piedmont Unplugged. "We really needed to do something else."
Melissa Partovi, another organizer, said she is most excited about students eventually getting to school on their own as a group, without parents accompanying them.
For the initial ride, the children were assisted by a Piedmont police escort trained in bike safety. Organizers said the goal is for future rides to be done independently by the students, traveling together.
Riding together makes the group more visible to drivers, many of whom slowed down as the children pedaled through neighborhood streets.
Despite the cold weather, students said they were looking forward to the ride.
"It’s going to be funner to see my friends and I think my brother will be happy, too," said Colton Horowitz, a third-grade student. When asked how old his brother is, he replied, "He is six."
"There’s something about the group, i know a lot of people and it’s just funner," said Bryn Balzan, a fifth-grade student.
Organizers said similar bike bus programs are operating in communities across the country. They said the idea was inspired by a similar effort in Boston. Parents in Piedmont say the concept makes sense given the short distance to school.
"The school’s not that far away," said Daniel Cohen, a Piedmont parent. "There’s a big band of them, so they’ll take care of each other."
They hope participation will grow as the program becomes more popular.