Any "walking school bus" or "riding school bus" BUSD?
Are there any active "walking school bus" or "riding school bus" efforts to BUSD schools, that are active at this time?
There are a few bicycle racks at the schools, but anything organized?
Active transportation efforts for elementary, middle school or BHS?
Jan 26, 2023
Parent Replies
Safe Routes to Schools Alameda County used to have a bunch of strong programs in Berkeley years ago. Check out their Facebook page or their organization website, www.transformca.org. They work with cities, traffic engineers, community members and more to find ways to get students to school safely and without a car. See their example bike route for Malcom X below.
Malcolm X has monthly bike buses with four routes, organized by the Safe Routes to School PTA committee. And tons of kids who walk and bike every day but not in an organized group. If your school doesn't have a committee organizing a walking/bike bus, maybe you could start one! You could email the MX committee to ask for tips, the information is all on the school website.
Hi! Please e-mail the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools Program (https://alamedacountysr2s.org/) at info [at] alamedacountysr2s.org.
We have active transportation efforts throughout BUSD and would love to connect!
Most schools in BUSD participate in the Safe Routes to School program, which means that schools have a parent volunteer who coordinates activities with some help from the Alameda County Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program. SR2S offering range from events (like Walk and Roll to School Day), to assemblies, to bike instruction, to technical assistance with mapping safe routes, to school site safety assessments that generate safety recommendations. Alameda County SR2S also provides a little scaffolding for parent volunteers who want to start a "walking school bus" or a "bike bus." The major issue with the setup of the program is that it relies entirely on parent volunteers who are both limited in the time they can devote and rotating over time, so there's tons of inconsistency across Berkeley schools.
At this time, I know there are monthly bike buses set up at Malcolm X, Sylvia Mendez and Ecole Bilingue (private school). Rosa Parks has also been working on getting something going. If you want to start one at your school, just ask the PTA who the Safe Route parent coordinator is and go from there. These are super fun ways to get more kids riding and are especially great for feeling safe because folks are traveling in a big group. Here's more on starting a bike bus.
Thanks all.
It looks like the programs are super small, but alive. I also learned that the "Safe Routes to Schools 2023 Golden Sneaker Contest" is happening February 27th – March 10th, 2023. And "Bike to Anywhere" day is Friday May 19th 2023.