A new type of “school bus” is happening in the Eixample district of Barcelona.
Now known as the “Bicibús” or Bike Bus, rather than actually being a school bus in the traditional sense, it’s actually more of an escort or caravan that collects kids from their homes on their way to school.
What began as five families choosing to ride their bikes to school – in order to campaign for bike lines, as well as to advocate for safer and quieter roads – has become a regular event with more and more families joining in for the ride, literally.
In an email shared with NPR, the parent of one 5-year old boy that joined the Bicibús, Mireia Boix, said, “It all started with a group of five families, a lot of determination and a deep sense of the greater good.”
In one of three “stops” on the Bicibús route, kids and their parents are allowed to join with every type of pedal-powered transport. This includes scooters, bikes, roller blades and much more.
It’s the hope of all the families that have joined the movement that their continually growing convoy of children will create awareness, leading the authorities to build structures such as school-friendly bike lanes that will take them out of the main traffic flow and into safer spaces.
Every Friday, the Bicibús route goes down Entença Street – which is considered a rather busy street – where three schools are located as well. The ride takes 25 minutes from beginning to end, but because there are at least 20,000 cars that drive along Entença each and every day, leading the police to provide an escort as the Bicibús community continued to grow.
Meanwhile, Boix continues to explain that she’s relieved that she now knows her son is safe during his travel to school, since attempting to travel on these busy roads on a bike is definitely more dangerous than going by car or bus.
Boix explains, “Bicycles are a means of transportation and if a 5-year old can ride a bike to school it means that every one else could. If the population uses their bikes, there will be a healthier, quieter and overall better city to live in.”
Not only are the families thrilled with these Bicibús, social media has also joined the bandwagon, posting tons of photos and videos of the petit peloton, with some kids even wearing Bicibús jerseys.
As shared on Twitter by CEO of @dwell and co-founder of @vimeo and @DIY, Zach Klein, “Something special is happening in Barcelona. It started last month when some parents organized a bike ride to school for just five kids. Now entire neighborhoods are joining. They call it Bicibús – Bike Bus.”
He added, “Each week they publish a route so people know where to join. The immediate goal is to extend the ‘line’ to cover several schools with the same ‘bus’, and then add new lines to cover additional neighborhoods.”
See more about it on the Twitter link below.
Something special is happening in Barcelona. It started last month when some parents organized a bike ride to school for just five kids. Now entire neighborhoods are joining. They call it Bicibús – or Bike Bus. pic.twitter.com/qIxsQEervG
— Zach Klein (@zachklein) October 18, 2021
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