A new spin on transportation: Riley CLC helps parents launch bike bus

November 19, 2024

Riley Elementary School students Max and Lorenz are pedaling along positive pathways this fall as members of a bike bus caravan.

The two Rams are joining friends on Riley’s bike bus route every Tuesday morning. The school’s bike bus has grown from a handful of students last year to more than a dozen weekly riders in 2024-25. The initiative has expanded to two other Lincoln Public Schools buildings this fall.

Max, a fourth grader, and Lorenz, a first grader, said they enjoyed biking through residential neighborhoods on their way to Riley.

“I like it because it’s fun,” Max said. “I get to bike with my friends and I get to talk with them. It’s just really fun to do it.”

“I think it’s fun because you usually get to pick up your friends at different places and then you get to ride with them,” Lorenz said.

Bike buses have become more popular across both the nation and world. A bike bus consists of a group of people who pedal from their homes to their local school building. One or two adults serve as “bus drivers” and safely guide children along the route. They pick up students along the way to form a bus brigade of happy bicyclists.

Joe Dauer started Riley’s bike bus in 2023 and has been shepherding students to school ever since. The bus has averaged between 13 and 15 riders of all ages and bicycling abilities this fall. He said watching them laugh and talk with each other is a highlight of his week.

“It puts a smile on your face every time,” Dauer said. ‘The kids come to school happy and ready to go. It’s a great time.”

Riley Principal Jeff Bjorkman enthusiastically agreed when Dauer asked him about starting a bike bus program. Riley’s Community Learning Centers (CLC) program and School Neighborhood Advisory Committee (SNAC) became focal points of communication about the opportunity.

Each CLC has a SNAC that includes parents, neighborhood residents, teachers, service providers and community-based organizations. Riley SNAC members sponsored a bike rodeo last spring and a family bike ride in October. They shared information about Dauer’s bike bus to local families at both events.

“The biggest part was just helping him through our family engagement events and through our SNAC to allow him to have a platform to share with other families,” Bjorkman said. “Here’s an opportunity if your child is interested in riding a bike. They can do it safely with other adults who are riding with them, and if you’re worried about them going on their own, there are others who are going to be riding in a group once a week. Just helping with the communication has been the biggest thing.”

“The school and CLC have always been extremely supportive,” Dauer said.

Dauer became motivated to start a bike bus program at Riley after he and his family spent one year in the city of Utrecht in The Netherlands. They joined hundreds of Dutch citizens who biked to school, parks and businesses each day. Dauer’s two sons displayed wide smiles every time they strapped on their helmets and started pedaling on the European streets.

“It became pretty evident that our kids liked it,” Dauer said. “It was part of everyday life. You’d see middle and high school kids riding together all over the place, and our kids in elementary school really enjoyed it. It was a great way for them to have social time and get ready for school.”

Dauer felt all Riley students could receive those same benefits. Max said he was excited when he learned about the bike bus opportunity.

“It’s fun to get exercise, and a lot of times you just bike around for fun,” Max said.

Dauer led a small bike bus that averaged four to eight students on Thursday mornings last year. The larger 2024-25 group rides to Riley on Tuesday mornings. Younger students on training wheels and smaller bikes take a more direct route to school, while older children wind through local neighborhoods on a route that lasts about ten minutes.

“It’s a social ride, so we enjoy the ride and having fun together,” Dauer said.

Dauer is helping the bike bus movement gain momentum throughout LPS. Parents have formed bike buses at both Cavett and Brownell elementary schools, and ridership numbers have remained steady this fall. Dauer said the three schools had a combined 34 students on their bikes during a peak week.

Bjorkman and Lorenz both said they would like Riley’s bike bus to continue to grow.

“We love seeing it,” Bjorkman said. “It’s a fun thing for the kids who do ride. When you see them coming down the bike trail in one long line, it’s fun to see them in action. It’s a good sense of community.”

“I hope it keeps going until I get to fifth grade, and at the end of fifth grade, there will be a lot more, hopefully,” Lorenz said.

Dauer said he believes the bike bus is helping students arrive at Riley in a positive frame of mind. That, in turn, is setting them up for successful moments in all of their classes and activities.

“I think when you see the kids smiling and talking about whatever on the way to school, it puts a good feeling in your heart,” Dauer said.

To learn more about Lincoln Community Learning Centers at LPS, visit our website at https://clc.lps.org/.

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