Edwardsville 'Bike Bus' makes its return in May

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Edwardsville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is organizing a spring 2024 Bike Bus next month.

The bike bus will operate on three Fridays in May and it will go to five Edwardsville School District buildings: Liberty and Lincoln Middle Schools, along with Woodland, Columbus and Cassens Elementary Schools.

"It's a great opportunity for students ride their bikes to school together under the supervision of adult riders," said Jason Stacy, a History Professor at SIUE and member of Edwardsville's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory on Total Information A.M. Tuesday.

The bike bus isn't actually a bus that has bikes in it, but rather it is a fixed route to and from school with designated "bus stops" along the way where bicyclists from different neighborhoods and areas can join up with fellow student bikers.

"The reason we call it a bus is because it's operates like a school bus where we got a adult rider in a safety vest in the front, ideally another in the back, and kid ride in between in a single file line," said Stacy. "We take bike trails and sidewalks through designated routes and we take the kids to school and we meet them at the bike racks after school to ride them on the same route."

Parents are allowed to also participate in the bike bus and Stacy says they really appreciate it when they decide to come along and it's a great opportunity for parents to meet other parents in the kids and ride their bikes with their kids.

"When we did it last fall, on the first Friday of the bus, there were nearly as many parents as there were kids on one of the routes," said Stacy. "It's a great for kids to have a little fun, and for parents to ride bikes with students and parents to meet other parents at the school."

For more information about the routes and the bike bus, you can click the link here to learn more.