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Biking to schoolMonday, August 10, 2009Posted by Jed Weeks, Development Associate, OSI-Baltimore, under Education , Simple ideas Post the next comment (3 so far) |
We all know that getting around without a car in Baltimore can be a frustrating experience. It’s especially difficult for many students, who rely on an often-late bus system to get to school. This problem is exacerbated by the occasional actions of a few students, who have tainted the image of students riding public transit, and strained relations with the MTA.
Clearly this is a problem that needs to be addressed, and many people and organizations are working toward solutions.
This summer is the perfect time to encourage kids to try a new form of transportation, which they can use in the fall to get to and from school: Biking.
Biking to school would eliminate the frustrating experience of waiting for bus transfers, increase visibility of bikers in the city during commute times, and have the added benefit of providing healthy exercise for students in our community.
Along with advocating cycling to school, we must promote safe biking practices. Students should be required to wear helmets, and learn proper cycling techniques. Most importantly, we must pass statewide legislation promoting equal use of roadways and an enforced three-foot passing rule. We must also continue to ask the Baltimore Police Department to live up to their part of the bargain as outlined in the Baltimore Bicycle Master Plan.
Students could also volunteer at a local bike collective, such as Velocipede, and not only learn how to maintain bikes, but could build their own bike for free. In creating their own transportation, students would be engaged in a safe, after-school environment and would learn a marketable trade, rather than being left to their own devices.
Nate Evans, Baltimore’s bike czar, told me that the Department of Transportation has partnered with City Schools, and has already installed bike racks at a few schools where students had previously been locking up to fences.
With more safe parking for bikes and an aggressive campaign to promote cycling over other means of transportation to school, we could continue to promote Baltimore as a bike friendly, green city, while improving student-MTA relations and engaging more kids in beneficial, trade-based after-school activities.
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Monday, August 10, 2009 at 10:01 am
I’m a big fan of bicycle transportation, but there’s a problem with heavy traffic and no bike lanes around the areas where many of the schools are located. This is fine for the kids who live near a neighborhood school on a small, residential street, but it could lead to student injuries and death for schools on large streets with heavy rush hour traffic.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Dr. Farkas,
Thanks for the comment! I agree that heavy traffic can be a challenge and danger with biking.
Hopefully, with more and more folks choosing to commute healthily in the city, and a good group of folks working hard on alternative transportation issues, we’ll have more awareness with drivers, and more physical infrastructure such as sharrows and bike lanes installed.
That being said, auto drivers have a responsibility to share the road equally with bikes and other non-motorized vehicles.
Monday, August 31, 2009 at 7:42 pm
This is a topic a lot of groups are interested in promoting; One Less Car (Maryland’s statewide bicycling and walking advocacy org,) Baltimore Bicycling Club (promoting safe cycling,)WABA in conjunction with SHA has bicycle safety trailers/training material for use in the class room here in Baltimore, and there is the City’s Safety City program.
Despite all the interest in promoting bicycling to school there are major obstacles, school principles that find it easier to prohibit biking and walking rather then identify barriers and correct those barriers. (ref: http://www.thewashcycle.com/2009/02/october-2008-mbpac-meeting-notes.html)
My observations from around the country its when the PTA demands safe accesses to schools then safe accesses becomes available. If you buy the lie that the roads *have to* be unsafe to walk or bike on then they are unsafe and that is the end of that.
Another part of the problem is there are a lot of urban myths that exist supposedly for bicycle safety that actually make cycling less safe and feed the myth that cycling is not safe activity. It is extremely important to get information about good safe riding practices into the hands of the public.
Anyway International Walk to school day is October 7th. http://www.walktoschool-usa.org/ which has a lot of great ideas on how to make this a reality. If there is something I can do to help, drop me a line.