In several European cities, children have the opportunity to go to and from school by “bike bus”, which is a group of children (accompanied by parents and other adults, depending on their age) cycling together. Similar to the motor vehicle equivalent, it follows a set route and has stops and a timetable. The route is chosen in line with where the families live so that children can join the bike bus on the way to school.
The “bicibus”, as the bike bus is called in Vic, close to Barcelona in Spain, was initially established to accompany nine children on a busy and polluted street. It has since become a much larger project, with 40 new lines launched in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area since 2020, and over 900 children and adults cycling.
The bicibus project cites practicing active mobility on the way to school as a way to increase the children’s perception of safety as a key advantage. Other advantages include promoting sustainable mobility, better physical and mental health as well as happier children, fewer cars on the road, improving skills by riding in the real traffic environment, and the involvement and collaboration of the educational community.
A bike bus was also introduced at a primary school in Glasgow, following a suggestion by a parent who was inspired by the bike bus in Spain. Having initially started with five families, the number of riders increased to around 50. But this posed a problem when navigating a particular junction. To address this problem, the city council’s traffic management service provided the bike bus with a wireless remote control that, while mounted on the lead rider’s bike, provides a signal triggering a specially timed traffic light cycle that is longer than the usual 45 seconds, allowing all children to navigate the junction together.
At a school in Brussels, a bike bus was introduced as an alternative to the school bus taking children to the swimming pool once a week. A third of the children participate in the bike bus and not having a bicycle is cited as one of the main reasons for not participating.