Bike buses solve multiple problems at once, and Canberra kids want them
Paris Lord | Canberra by Bike
With National Ride2School Day on 20 March approaching, Canberra’s bike buses offer a glimpse of what school travel could look like if more children felt safe riding. Bike buses are a structured ride along a set route with pickup spots. They create safety in numbers to help people get where they’re going, reduce climate emissions, and fight screen time and loneliness. Children develop their confidence and independence and burn off energy, so they arrive at school happy and ready to learn.
They’ve existed in various forms and names since the 2000s, but only became a phenomenon with social media. American teacher Sam Balto, @CoachBalto, popularised it in 2022 after filming children riding to their Portland primary school. Adults in comments beneath his videos cry happy tears. Some for the joy of seeing children riding together. Others recall childhoods before car bloat, and their sheer volume made that dangerous.
Canberra has at least two bike buses. The weekly Lyneham one is for primary school students, and the monthly one is for adults who work between West Belconnen and Barton. Lyneham’s started in December 2023 as a collaboration with Walk Cycle Lyneham, Canberra by Bike, and local parents and carers.
I cried the first time our Lyneham bike bus crossed the Ginninderra Drive overpass and saw children waiting on Archibald St.
Our bike bus attracts between five and 10 children each Wednesday. Children choose songs to blast from a big speaker on the back of my blue cargo bike. Songs from recent children’s movies are favourites, although some children like classic bands like Deep Purple and AC/DC.
Last year for National Ride2School, 26 children and about 20 adults happily rolled from the North Lyneham shops. Local mechanic Chris from Mojo Cycles set up a repair station at the school gate, while children devoured cupcakes and worked at a craft table, as adults sipped free coffees.
While our celebrations for Ride 2 School Day on 20 March will likely be muted, we welcome adults to join us as riders or help hold back traffic while the bike bus passes. It will be the highlight of your week.
But National Ride2School Day needn’t be annual. It could be a daily occurrence for many children if the adults in their lives believed they could ride safely alone. Safer streets, especially those with 30km/h limits, make that possible. A person hit by a driver doing 30km/h has a 90 per cent chance of surviving. The higher the speed, the lower the chance.
Countries including Wales, Scotland, and Spain have 30 default limits, as do more than 40 cities across the European Union, and parts of Melbourne and Perth. Benefits include fewer crashes, quieter streets, less air pollution, and more chances for random interactions with neighbours and friends on the street. Interactions people on bikes have long enjoyed
Paris Lord is a former Pedal Power board member, founder of Canberra by Bike Design Company, and has helped start bike buses in Canberra and Brisbane. He holds a webinar at 8 pm on the first Tuesday of each month about what a bike bus is and how to start one. Email him for the link.
