For some Vancouver families, back to school means bike to school

Back to school also means bike to school for students at General Gordon Elementary in Kitsilano, where upwards of 60 kids and parents join a so-called bike bus and cycle the commute together every Friday.

Mom Maya Goldstein organized the first-ever Gordon bike bus in April of 2023 after noticing her family was the only one using the school bike rack.

"We've always biked to school with our kids and I thought ... why aren't there more kids biking? I had heard about the Portland Bike Bus and I thought Vancouver could do something similar," said Goldstein.

Portland's PDX Bike Bus is probably the North American gold standard in collective pedal power, with about 20 elementary schools in the city participating, according to its website.

A school bike bus is essentially a group ride made up of kids, parents and sometimes teachers who follow a preset route, picking up people along the way.

The obvious benefits are exercise, fresh air and low emissions. But Goldstein said the main reasons people join the bike bus are because it's fun and they can ride with friends. 

"Parents have created friendships. It's also about connecting neighbours and kids across classrooms," she said.

While not a bike bus per se, the Vancouver Kids Bike Share meetup generates the same joyful vibe on a sunny Sunday, thanks to the dozens of preschool-aged kids wheeling around the L'Ecole Bilingue Elementary playground.

The meetup is the brainchild of Omar Tahmiscic, a TransLink engineer and father-of-two who brings in a collection of small bikes for kids to try out, along with three mini ramps for the more adventurous riders to try. 

Equally important is the set of bike tools he uses to adjust bikes so they fit the children properly, even removing pedals to turn a pedal bike into a balance bike for a tyke who is just starting out.

Tahmiscis said his goal is simple: help parents and young children fall in love with cycling.

"These meetups are a great way to get kids more motivated and excited to ride their bikes," he said. "We also typically help at least one child transition from a balance bike to a pedal bike, which is always fun, especially when the parent doesn't expect it."

Four-and-a-half year old Joey, who spent part of his summer vacation cycling through the bike-friendly streets of Copenhagen with his parents, is a case in point.

"He started on a strider balance bike and Omar helped us work through the pedaling," said mom Andrea Lynch. "Our goal is to get Joey so he can start to move to eventually biking on the road [and] generally to get him to be a more confident rider."

According to the 2022 Vancouver Transportation Survey, eight per cent of children aged four to 12 commute to school on a bicycle or e-mobility device. By comparison, 39 per cent walk, 36 per cent are driven and 17 per cent take transit. 

The survey found Vancouverites used bikes, including e-bikes, for seven per cent of their daily trips in 2022, up from four per cent a decade earlier.

Mom Jessica Inskip said her family will be walking, scootering or biking to school when her oldest enters kindergarten this fall. 

Sitting astride her Dutch cargo bike packed with two children, one bike, a scooter and soccer balls, she said the growing variety of bikes on the market is good for families interested in cycling.

"In a way, it is a bit cheaper than driving," she said, adding there's a good second-hand market for family bikes. "Once people try it, it's hard to give it up because of the fun and just being outside together."

According to Tahmiscis, the prime age for children to start learning to bike is three to five.

"A lot of parents say: 'Well, my kid is just not into it.' Through this bike share group, we've found that a lot of kids are into it," he said. 

"You can actually get them interested by giving them a lighter bike, by giving them better geometry and working with them. Small things like adjusting the seat height, the hand brake position, those go a long way with kids."  

Goldstein says the General Gordon bike bus makes cycling safer.

"With the bike bus, we're a big group and much more visible," she said.

"I always say, it's kind of a vicious cycle that parents feel it's unsafe for kids to bike to school, so they drive them. But driving makes it more unsafe for the other kids who want to bike to school."