Hello APCSC supporters~
I’ll make this short.
This gift article is so worth a read in The Atlantic about the mess of traffic around schools every day: How School Drop-Off Became a Nightmare More parents are driving kids than ever before. The result is mayhem.
Kids riding bikes to school isn;t revolutionary. So why is it so hard in AP?
We’ve been working on launching Bike Bus since last November.
I’m a certified League of American Bicyclists Instructor and I can help set it up. APPD is supportive. So what’s the problem?
Bike Bus has been growing globally, where Sam Balto, a Phys Ed teacher in Portland launched it and it grew all over the US, and in NJ too. Kids riding bikes to school is not revolutionary, but you’d think it was in Asbury Park.
What’s making it so hard? I’ve done slide presentations and talked it up for almost a year.
Excuses, excuses… (*The “L Word” is a biggie. Scroll down.)
It’s way too similar to the ongoing excuses why we can’t open school playgrounds.
Excuses also abound why we can’t implement traffic calming measures in the city to make it safer, more accessible, and equitable for people walking and rolling. Even just with paint for starters. Especially on the southwest side where more kids walk.
Bike Bus is simply kids riding bikes together to school with a few parent volunteers, picking kids up along the way at “bus stops”.
I’m sure it’s obvious, and the article says it all, so I don’t need to provide the reasons why riding a bike to school with a bunch of friends (with a parent or teacher volunteer leader blasting tunes!) is a wonderful way for kids to start the day.
I hope you’ll read the article.
Love to know your thoughts.
*The “L Word”: “Liability” gets thrown around way too much.
Polli Schildge, Editor