A bike bus, also known as a bike train [1] or a cycle train, [2] or cycle bus is a group of people who cycle together on a set route following a set timetable other than for sporting purposes. Cyclists may join or leave the bike bus at various points along the route. Most bike buses are a form of collective bicycle commuting (usually parents cycling their children together).
A bike bus is often seen as a cyclist's version of a walking bus, although walking buses tend to be seen as exclusively for children travelling to school.
Bike buses may have social, environmental, or political aims. One of the founders of the Aire Valley Bike Bus said "The Aire Valley Bike Bus was set up ... to encourage people to take up cycling and make the journey to work a more interesting and sociable experience.". [3] The stated aim of the Central Florida Bike Bus is "bringing together cyclists who want to commute by bike using the same roads as every other vehicle". [4] The aim of the D12BikeBus in Dublin 12, Ireland is to make cycling to school safer and easier while lobbying for safe cycling infrastructure.
The Aire Valley Bike Bus first started in August 2008. [5] It runs once a week, on a Wednesday, between Keighley and Bradford in West Yorkshire, UK. In November 2009 it was featured as Cycling England's Scheme of the Month. [6]
Bike Bus is run by members of Bicycle New South Wales, Australia on a voluntary basis [7] and has received funding from The Department of Environment and Water Resources, through the Low Emissions Technology and Abatement – Strategic Abatement program. [7] It is a "community-led service to introduce groups of people to ride a set route together, to introduce beginners to a route, or enjoy each others company". [8]
Bike Bus is a French company based in the Dordogne delivering rental bikes to visitors all over France. Bike Bus (FR) began in 2002 and is currently the oldest bike rental company in the Dordogne. [9]
Biketrain PDX was started by Kiel Johnson in 2010. It co-ordinates bike trains, a form of bike bus, for school children in Portland, Oregon, with the aim of having a bike train running at every single school. [10]
Perhaps the first bike bus initiative, based in Toulouse, France it now shows bike buses across France.
First run on 23 August 2010 [11] this bike bus runs to and from the University of Central Florida. This bike bus has a real time Bike Bus Tracker, so that riders, with appropriate technology, can see where the bike bus is at any time.
CicloExpresso is a bike to school project that started in 2015 in Lisbon and has since spread to Aveiro. [12]
This bike bus ran every Monday in March 2011 from Sutton to Kingston upon Thames, UK, a total distance of roughly 7.5 miles. They claimed they would "complete the journey in about an hour – that's less time than the 213 bus takes during peak times!" [13]
The service was led by cycle instructors and was provided by Sutton Council and Kingston Council.
Massa Marmocchi Milano is an Italian bike bus company. [14]
Started in June 2013, following the Bus Cyclistes Model, to provide a regular Saturday "bus service" that introduces local residents to safe routes in the corridor between Nether Edge and Sheffield City Centre.
Arguably one of the longest continually running Bike Buses (2019 – ), with greatest distance travelled of over 5 kilometres, the D12BikeBus is parents and children banding together to cycle safely to school while lobbying councils to make their way safer and easier. It runs from Crumlin to Greenhils, Dublin 12.
Bicibús.eu is a European initiative to create bike bus projects in collaboration with municipalities and educational communities. It also provides resources such as the 'Bicibús KIT' or a mobile application to set up a bicycle bus in a school." [15]
As walking buses tend to focus on student transport to and from school, bike buses can also operate to and from schools escorted and supervised by adults including for other human-powered transport such as scooters.
A riding school bus is a group of schoolchildren supervised by one or more adults, riding bicycles along a set route, picking children up at their homes along the way until they all arrive at school. Riding school buses are similar to walking bus or bike bus programs. Like a traditional bus, riding school buses (also known as RSBs) have a fixed route with designated "bus stops" and "pick up times" in which they pick up children. Ideally the riding school bus will include at least 1 adult 'driver', who leads the group, and an adult 'conductor' who supervises from the end of the group.
Riding school bus programs have been developed in a number of local councils in Victoria, Australia, including City of Merri-bek [16] and Shire of East Gippsland. [17]
Riding school bus programs deliver a number of benefits: [18]
Riding school buses are also known as pedal pods [19] or Cycling School Buses.
Coburg North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km (5.6 mi) north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Darebin and Merri-bek local government areas. Coburg North recorded a population of 8,327 at the 2021 census.
Cycling in Melbourne is an important mode of transport, fitness, sport and recreation in many parts of the city. After a period of significant decline through the mid to late 20th century, additional infrastructure investment, changing transport preferences and increasing congestion has resulted in a resurgence in the popularity of cycling for transport. This is assisted by Melbourne's natural characteristics of relatively flat topography and generally mild climate.
Since the advent of the bicycle in the 1860s, Chicago has been distinguished as one of the premier cycling locations in the United States, with such public cycling destinations as Grant Park, Burnham Park and the Chicago Park District's Lakefront Trail.
Cycling is the second-most common mode of transport in the Netherlands, with 36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day, as opposed to the car (45%) and public transport (11%). Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips nationwide. In cities this is even higher, such as Amsterdam which has 38%, and Zwolle 46%. This high frequency of bicycle travel is enabled by excellent cycling infrastructure such as cycle paths, cycle tracks, protected intersections, ample bicycle parking and by making cycling routes shorter and more direct than car routes.
Transport in Leeds consists of extensive road, bus and rail networks in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Public transport in the Leeds area is coordinated and developed by West Yorkshire Metro. The city has good rail and road links to the rest of the country. Leeds railway station is one of the busiest in Britain, and Leeds is connected to the national road network via the A1(M) motorway, M1 motorway and M62 motorway. The city is served by Leeds Bradford Airport.
Cycling is a popular mode of transport and leisure activity within London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. Following a national decline in the 1960s of levels of utility cycling, cycling as a mode of everyday transport within London began a slow regrowth in the 1970s. This continued until the beginning of the 21st century, when levels began to increase significantly—during the period from 2000 to 2012, the number of daily journeys made by bicycle in Greater London doubled to 580,000. The growth in cycling can partly be attributed to the launch in 2010 by Transport for London (TfL) of a cycle hire system throughout the city's centre. By 2013, the scheme was attracting a monthly ridership of approximately 500,000, peaking at a million rides in July of that year. Health impact analyses have shown that London would benefit more from increased cycling and cycling infrastructure than other European cities.
Cycling in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia takes place for recreation, commuting and as a sport. Sydney has a hilly topography and so may require a slightly higher level of fitness from cyclists than flatter cities such as Melbourne and Canberra. Sydney depends heavily on motor vehicles where traffic and public transport operate at capacity. This means that cyclist are often competing with motorists for limited space on busier roads, and for limited government resources for expenditure on road infrastructure. In its favour, Sydney has a generally mild climate and there are active cycling groups.
Cycling in New Zealand is the 5th most popular form of active recreation, but a very marginal commuting mode, with the share hovering around 1–3% in most major cities. This is due to a number of factors, principally safety fears.
Toronto, Ontario, like many North American cities, has slowly been expanding its purpose-built cycling infrastructure. The number of cyclists in Toronto has been increasing progressively, particularly in the city's downtown core. As cycling conditions improve, a cycling culture has grown and alternatives such as automobiles are seen as less attractive. The politics of providing resources for cyclists, particularly dedicated bike lanes, has been contentious, particularly since the 2010s.
Cycling in Cardiff, capital of Wales, is facilitated by its easy gradients and large parks. In the mid-2000s between 2.7% and 4.3% of people commuted to work by cycling in the city. In 2017 12.4% of workers cycled to work at least 5 days a week. However, cyclists in the city are deterred from cycling by poor facilities and aggressive traffic, according to research by Cardiff University.
Cycling in Los Angeles accounts for less than one percent (0.6%) of all work commutes. Because of the mild climate, there is little need to carry the variety of clothing that cyclists require in other less temperate climates.
Cycling in Copenhagen is – as with most cycling in Denmark – an important mode of transportation and a dominating feature of the cityscape, often noticed by visitors. The city offers a variety of favourable cycling conditions — dense urban proximities, short distances and flat terrain — along with an extensive and well-designed system of cycle tracks. This has earned it a reputation as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Every day 1.2 million kilometres are cycled in Copenhagen, with 62% of all citizens commuting to work, school, or university by bicycle; in fact, almost as many people commute by bicycle in greater Copenhagen as do those cycle to work in the entire United States. Cycling is generally perceived as a healthier, more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and often quicker way to get around town than by using an automobile.
Cycling in Auckland is a mode of transport in Auckland, New Zealand. The dominance of the car in the city, the negative attitudes of car drivers and general changes in transport patterns have made it a very marginal transport mode in the early 21st century, with remaining cyclists often riding for leisure and sports purposes.
Cycling in the Australian state of New South Wales is a common form of recreation.
Cycling in Australia is a common form of transport, recreation and sport. Many Australians enjoy cycling because it improves their health and reduces road congestion and air pollution. The government has encouraged more people to start, with several state advertising campaigns aimed at increasing safety for those who choose to ride. There is a common perception that riding is a dangerous activity. While it is safer to walk, cycling is a safer method of transport than driving. Cycling is less popular in Australia than in Europe, however cyclists make up one in forty road deaths and one in seven serious injuries.
The popularity of cycling in Malta as a sport, a means of commuting, and as a way of exploring the island of Malta is on the increase. In recent years, the Maltese authorities, most notably the Malta Transport Authority, have worked hard to make this activity more accessible and safer.
Cycling in Canada is experienced in various ways across a geographically huge, economically and socially diverse country. Among the reasons for cycling in Canada are for practical reasons such as commuting to work or school, for sports such as road racing, BMX, mountain bike racing, freestyle BMX, as well as for pure recreation. The amount and quality of bicycle infrastructure varies widely across the country as do the laws pertaining to cyclists such as bicycle helmet laws which can differ by province.
Cycling in Denmark is both a common and popular recreational and utilitarian activity. Bicycling infrastructure is a dominant feature of both city and countryside infrastructure with segregated dedicated bicycle paths and lanes in many places and the network of 11 Danish National Cycle Routes extends more than 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi) nationwide. Often bicycling and bicycle culture in Denmark is compared to the Netherlands as a bicycle-nation.
Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except where cyclists are barred such as many freeways/motorways. It includes amenities such as bike racks for parking, shelters, service centers and specialized traffic signs and signals. The more cycling infrastructure, the more people get about by bicycle.
Cycling in Geelong, Victoria is common for recreation and competition, but less so for utility and commuting.