More Kids on Bikes: Bike Buses and Community Building

Cycling is growing in DC and nationwide but many families hesitate due to very real safety concerns. Bike buses are one way communities can come together to support kids on bikes AND instill an active transportation mindset in the next generation. Advocating for safer streets is another, one that organizations like DC Families for Safe Streets are embracing. Join Jessica Hart and Sam Balto to discuss this and more.

Sam Balto has taught Physical Education for over ten years in Washington, DC, Boston, and Portland, Oregon. For 9 years now, Sam has seen the benefits of active transportation to school as a way to increase physical activity for students but also as a way to build strong school communities. After leading walking school buses for 6 years, Sam tried a bike bus at his school Alameda Elementary in the Spring of 2022 and as they say "the rest is history." His weekly bike bus has received international attention and has helped bring the issue of active transportation for children to the footsteps of The White House. Last summer, Sam was invited to meet Secretary Buttigieg in Washington State and Sam told the Secretary "you're going to lead a bike bus one day." Sam is now taking this momentum and starting Bike Bus World, a bike bus organization to inspire and support more people to start bike buses in their community!

Jessica Hart is a national advocate for safe streets, a role she came to after her five-year-old daughter Allison (Allie) was killed in a crosswalk while biking. Allie was a kindergartner at Mundo Verde Calle 8, which started a bike bus in spring 2023. As a member of Families for Safe Streets, Jessica advocates for better street design and smaller, smarter vehicles. Her petition on change.org calling for changes to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to include the safety of pedestrians and cyclists has nearly 50,000 signers. She has shared Allie's story and the importance of making life-saving changes with Secretary Buttigieg and senior leaders at USDOT, with Rep. Blumenauer and others on the Hill, and at DC Council hearings. Jessica has appeared on or been quoted in NPR's Morning Edition, CBS News, The Washington Post, Vox, the BBC, and the Associated Press, among others.

The first 50 attendees will receive a free drink ticket.

Host or Publisher The Washington Area Bicyclist Association