We attended the Global Bike Bus Summit
Cycle Winchester loves bike buses. A shared ride to a destination like a school with stops to collect riders along the way, bike buses bring more experienced and less confident, newer or younger riders together to make riding a safe, fun and inclusive experience.
We now have five “buses” in Winchester. Starting a bike bus is easy. If you’re interested in finding out more, we’ve set up a page on our website to share what we’ve learned. If you’re on Instagram you can also follow the Winchester Bike Buses account.
Part of what excites us most about Bike Bus is being part of a global movement to get more people, especially kids, riding bikes.
Barcelona’s BiciBus is widely regarded as the world’s first bike bus, inspiring countless others including Winchester’s first bike bus, formed in February 2022.
Now there are hundreds worldwide with more buses popping up all the time.
Cycle Winchester experienced the vibrancy of the Bike Bus movement earlier in the year when we attended the Global Bike Bus Summit expertly hosted by Bike Worcester.
The Summit featured Bike Bus champions from across the world including Sam “Coach” Balto, the former PE teacher from Portland USA and founder of Bike Bus World, whose viral videos have brought bike buses worldwide attention.
There was a lot of learn. For instance, we heard from bike train project leaders in Lisbon where the municipality has invested in the model, resulting in a different type of bus from the parent-led rides that are most common.
The Shawlands bike bus told us about their magic traffic-stopping button which helps their riders stay together through an especially busy junction. (Can we have some of these in Winchester please?)
Most importantly, we heard from the young people that ride bike bus about what it means to them. Their “Bike Bus Declaration” was a powerful illustration of the power of cycling to change lives for the better.
To find out more about the Summit, including the Bike Bus kids’ declaration, have a read of Cycle Sprog’s write-up of the event.