Tag: Bike Bus

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Spring Into Gear! Bike Bus Is Coming!

 

Hello Asbury Park families~

Learn about the Bike Bus Movement!

 

Bike Bus in New York City

Parent volunteers ride bikes with kids to school.

  • Picking up kids along the way (like a school bus), along a planned route. Kids wait at their “bus stop” and hop on as the group arrives.
  • Riding together is safer than riding alone.
  • Starting the day with healthy activity, building community, reducing traffic, and leading to healthier kids and an overall healthier community.
  • Bike Bus started in Spain and has been catching on everywhere, all over the globe.

We’re not reinventing the wheel! 

Sam Balto, a PE teacher at Alameda Elementary School captains the bike bus.

In Portland the Alameda Bike Bus, one of the first in the US, grew to hundreds of kids in 4 months. Here’s how that Bike Bus started.

Other cities that have been rolling to school on a Bike Bus:

The Upper West Side of NYC

Montclair, NJ

Jersey City

Brooklyn

And there are many, many more cities all over the US and the world rolling to school together on bikes.

Check out the Bike Bus slide show right here.

Bike Bus is simple:

  • It’s kids riding bikes to school together with parents on a planned route.
  • It can be planned for one morning a week, or more frequently.
  • Parent volunteers decide, and make the commitment.
  • Asbury Park is perfectly situated to succeed with a Bike Bus!

Spread the word. Share this flyer with friends in Asbury Park! 

Onward~

Polli Schildge, Editor APCSC

 

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Rolling to school on the Bike Bus!

Get Ready For The Asbury Park Bike Bus!

This weekend I participated in an intensive training to be certified as a League Of American Bicyclists Instructor: LCI.

The League Of American Bicyclists Instructor Certification provides a solid foundation for me to initiate a bike riding program for parents and kids in Asbury Park, called Bike Bus.

Presentation Principles Of Traffic Law for certification of League Of American Bicyclists Instructor

Parents riding bikes with kids to school, picking up other kids along the way (like a bus does), has been catching on everywhere all over the globe. There are dozens of articles about this phenomenon from Barcelona; Portland; the Upper West Side of NYC; Montclair, NJ; Jersey City; Brooklyn and many, many more cities all over the US and the world.

Brooklyn Bike Bus!

It was never questioned that I could ride my bike to school as a kid, but it has become far less usual nowadays.

Many parents in Asbury Park have told me they’re afraid to let their kids ride because of traffic, so they drive them to school, which makes them traffic, which in turn creates more congestion and dangerous conditions in school zones and surrounding streets

This is a great, healthy, fun way to get kids (and their parents) out of cars.

Getting kids and parents out of cars and on bikes is a healthy way to start the school day, prepares kids’ brains to perform better in school, and builds friendships with other kids and families.

All upsides, and no downsides.

We’re not reinventing the wheel (pun intended)!

Together WE can advocate for raised crosswalks, and other creative, effective traffic calming measures around our schools.

Streets need to be designed so drivers won’t speed anywhere near or around schools, and even street closures during school hours.

Creative traffic calming art

I’m ready to launch the Asbury Park Bike Bus.

Want to help?

Email apcompletestreets@gmail.com

Let’s start the buzz, and stay tuned for details!

It’s official! I’m an LCI!

 

Onward!

Polli Schildge Editor/Founder APCSC

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League Of American Bicyclists Instructor Seminar

News!

Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition will host a League Of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor seminar on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th at The Boys And Girls Club.

Bicycling in Asbury Park has been transforming over the 8 years years that APCSC has been in existence.

When APCSC was founded there was only one (very worn) bike lane in the city.

People were riding bikes for daily transportation or recreation with zero awareness of the need for safe infrastructure. Main Street was a speeding 4 lane highway, many businesses had been abandoned, and drivers ruled city streets.

Locals began advocating with us and learning how we can #slowthecars with traffic calming measures like bike lanes, bumpouts, mini traffic circles, raised crosswalks, and speed bumps. The Main Street road diet was implemented after an energetic 18 months APCSC campaign.

Streets that are safe for anyone at any age to ride a bike will encourage people to ride bikes.  

Residents and visitors now are beginning to understand the need for safe bike riding infrastructure  – for health, economic, and social benefits.

We still have a long way to go, but improvements are being made all over the city. During these years people have become aware of the need for equitable mobility for the most vulnerable road users  – which is everyone outside of a vehicle.

Take a look at the Asbury Park Plan For Walking And Biking, particularly beginning on page 63 to see plans for the current work on Memorial Drive!

Our hope is that we might be able to encourage parents, teachers, and residents to be a part of a “Bike Bus” – a global movement in which adults on bikes pick up kids on bikes  at “bus stops” all over town and guide them to school.

Here’s a video of Montclair’s Bike Bus In action on a recent Friday with 163 kids. 143 adults!

And in Williamsburg, Brooklyn: Make Way for the Bike Bus. For the school commute, families are taking to the streets with two wheels. Some have termed the movement “kidical mass.”

This is where League of American Bicyclist Instructor training comes in!

The League Seminar will equip instructors to educate members of the community, particularly parents and school kids to ride bikes confidently and safely.

Certified LCIs are empowered to teach courses that cover youth riding, how to ride confidently and legally with traffic, how to share paths and trails, motorist education, bike handling, group riding, and more. 

Membership in The League Of American Bicyclists and the Smart Cycling course are prerequisites. The courses are held throughout the year in locations all over the US.

For more information, email apcompletestreets@gmail.com if you’re interested in becoming a League Certified Instructor.

Onward~

Polli Schildge, Editor APCSC