Campus View Elementary in Saanich is one of six B.C. elementary schools participating in the new HUB Cycling Bike Bus program, where a trained instructor will help a "bike bus" of students bike safely to and from school.
According to a news release, a "bike bus" is an organized group of children riding bikes to school together along a set route under the supervision of adult leaders, which aims to improve students' physical and mental health, and to build community connections and increase road safety and visibility.
“I noticed there were very few children biking to school regularly. I heard about a Bike Bus in Portland Ore. led by the school’s physical education teacher Sam Balto. I started following that Bike Bus on social media and even took a trip down to Portland to participate in this legendary bike bus,” noted Maya Goldstein, HUB Cycling's bike bus manager, who started a bike bus in her children’s school, Gordon Elementary in Vancouver, in the release.
The program, which started up April 9, received over 40 requests from schools to participate in the program. Over 700 parents and caregivers also responded to a survey expressing interest in the program, according to the release.
David, father of a student at Gordon Elementary, said, “We are so lucky our school has a bike bus. Not only does it get our daughter excited about biking, but she is building confidence riding on the road. It really is the best way to expose children to commuting."
Joining Campus View are Lord Tennyson Elementary, Emily Carr Elementary and Florence Nightingale Elementary in Vancouver, Ocean Cliff Elementary in Surrey, and Lord Kelvin Community School in New Westminster.
Five more schools will be eligible to participate in the program over the 2025/26 school year, and parents and school staff are also encouraged to start their own volunteer-based bike buses using HUB Cycling’s bike bus resource page.
