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Bike Buses are a relatively new form of Active Transportation to School (ATS) with limited published research on their creation, maintenance, and impact. A Bike Bus is a coordinated, scheduled bike ride to/from a school led by adults with student participants. They typically have a defined route along which students may join or depart the "bus" as it passes their pickup/destination. This project will create a foundational body of research on their links to existing literature on ATS and Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) interventions. The project will build on this knowledge by conducting surveys and interviews with Bike Bus leaders, participants and nonparticipants on why they choose (or do not choose) to use a Bike Bus, what influences those decisions, and what qualities are necessary to create, maintain and generate impact with a Bike Bus.
New Research Out Now
New Research Out Now
Exploring Bike Bus Programs in the United States
The trip to and from school is made by nearly every child in Oregon every school day. Bike and walk buses, or organized groups of school children, parents, and ride/walk leaders, seek to encourage biking and walking to school. Aside from mitigating some of the negative effects of parents driving kids to school (such as traffic congestion in school zones, increased air pollution, including greenhouse gases, and safety risks), bike and walk buses provide benefits to kids such as physical activity, which has been associated with improved academics and behavior, and offers potential for positive social interactions, and learning about bicycling, traffic safety and navigating their communities.
The objective of this study is to gather information and data on current bike bus programs in the US. As part of this research, the research team will develop information about bike buses (what they are, where they are, how they work,) along with a library of references to them in local, national and international media (such as newspaper articles, blog posts, and videos.) The first phase of the study will be to collect information on current programs. We will collect data on school specific programs and launch a data collection tool to allow volunteers to record the number of students and parents riding on a specific day. The project will deploy surveys and interviews to document the experiences of parents and children participating in bike buses in the Portland area, including stated motivations, perceived benefits, and challenges.
Watch Our Presentation at TREC's Friday Transportation Seminars, October 25, 2024
Watch Our Presentation at TREC's Friday Transportation Seminars, October 25, 2024
See John MacArthur, Nathan McNeil and Evan Howington share about the research into Bike Buses.
What is a Bike Bus?
What is a Bike Bus?
Learn about the work of the Transportation Research and Education Center's research on Bike Buses.
A Global Survey of Bike Bus Initiatives summarizes key findings from a global assessment of the bike bus community.
Check out the work our partners at Bike Bus World who are doing to transform communities and our planet through the simple act of riding bikes to school together.
Bike Buses Around the United States
Bike Buses Around the United States
See our "Bike Bus Tracker" below. Do you have a Bike Bus that is missing from this map? Contact us with your information at bikebusresearch@pdx.edu
Get in Touch
Get in Touch
Do you have a Bike Bus? Fill out the form below to connect with us and our research project, or email bikebusresearch@pdx.edu. We would love to learn more about your program!
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