(OCTOBER 7, 2022) Many students ride a school bus every day. Alameda Elementary School in Portland has a new kind of school bus. It takes students from home to school -- on their bikes!
It's called a "bike bus", but it's not really a bus at all. It is a large group of students with adults from the school. They meet at starting points, and then they ride together as a group to the school in Northeast Portland.
Recently, there were about 150 participants. That's more than 300 wheels on this "bike bus". According to the Bike Portland website, the number of participants has doubled over the past four months.
The group leader is Sam Balto. He teaches physical education at the school. He leads the group and plays music from a speaker on his bike.
“It’s a great way to get kids to school and build community,” Balto told The Oregonian newspaper. “It helps them learn and do better academically and it’s better for the environment.”
It provides the students with more exercise, and it helps to protect the environment at the same time.