https://www.npr.org/2021/10/22/1047341052/barcelona-bicibus-kids-parents-bike-ride-to-school

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Hundreds of kids and parents are biking to school together in
Barcelona On Fridays, kids and parents hop on their bikes and join
the bicibus, or bike bus, traveling to three schools along its route.
It promotes bike safety and environmentally friendly transportation.

Europe

It started with 5 families. Now hundreds are biking to school
together in Barcelona

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October 22, 20215:00 AM ET

Deepa Shivaram

Twitter
[bicibus-2-]
Enlarge this image

Children joining the bicibus in the Eixample district of Barcelona,
Spain, make their way to school on a recent Friday morning. The
community is hoping to build a school-friendly bike lane for a safer
commute for kids. Mireia Boix/Bicibus Eixample hide caption

toggle caption
Mireia Boix/Bicibus Eixample

Children joining the bicibus in the Eixample district of Barcelona,
Spain, make their way to school on a recent Friday morning. The
community is hoping to build a school-friendly bike lane for a safer
commute for kids.

Mireia Boix/Bicibus Eixample

The Friday commute to school looks a little different for some kids
in Barcelona, Spain.

Starting at 8 a.m., more than a hundred kids and parents hop on their
bikes and hit the road on their way to school and work. Not on the
sidewalk or in a bike lane, but in the middle of the street.

Dozens of children ride bikes and scooters -- and even skate -- down
empty streets, seen in videos and photos posted to social media.

    Something special is happening in Barcelona. It started last
    month when some parents organized a bike ride to school for just
    five kids. Now entire neighborhoods are joining. They call it
    Bicibus - or Bike Bus. pic.twitter.com/qIxsQEervG

    -- Zach Klein (@zachklein) October 18, 2021

The system has been dubbed bicibus, or bike bus, and began in the
Eixample district of Barcelona in September.

Families in the area are using the growing popularity of the bike
commute to build community -- and also fight for a safer, more
environmentally friendly way for their kids to get to school.

"It all started with a group of five families, a lot of determination
and a deep sense of the greater good," Mireia Boix, a parent who
rides with her 5-year-old son, told NPR in an email.

Building a healthier city

The bicibus operates similar to the way a school bus would but with
three "stops" along the way where more riders join as it travels to
several schools in the Eixample.

Parents often join in, some of them carrying younger children on
their bikes. Police vehicles have started to escort the group, with
officers traveling in the front, back and on the sides of the group,
Boix said.

In Eixample, the bicibus travels down Entenca Street, where three
schools are located; the ride from start to finish lasts about 25 
minutes. Boix said it's a busy road where about 20,000 vehicles drive
through every day. It makes the surrounding area loud and busy. And
for kids getting to school, it can be dangerous. Boix said with the
bicibus, she feels a sense of relief when her son bikes to school on
Fridays because she knows he'll be safe.

That's why parents in the community are hoping for a school-friendly
bike lane that is separated from the main traffic that would allow
children to bike with their families. This kind of lane already
exists in other parts of Barcelona, Boix said.

Boix says the city council has made some changes to make the street
safer, but it hasn't made much of an impact.

[bicibus-1-]
Enlarge this image

A police vehicle travels at the front of the bicibus in the Eixample
district in Barcelona. When the cyclists start their commute on
Friday mornings, they have help from local officials to keep everyone
safe. Mireia Boix/ Bicibus Eixample hide caption

toggle caption
Mireia Boix/ Bicibus Eixample

A police vehicle travels at the front of the bicibus in the Eixample
district in Barcelona. When the cyclists start their commute on
Friday mornings, they have help from local officials to keep everyone
safe.

Mireia Boix/ Bicibus Eixample

"It would reduce the amount of cars and it would make bike riding a
possibility for families that right now are not too sure and feel
insecure with the area," she said.

"Bicycles are a means of transportation and if a 5-year-old can ride
a bike to school it means that every one else could. If the
population uses their bikes, there will be a healthier, quieter and
overall better city to live in," Boix said.

Other neighborhoods in Barcelona and other parts of Spain have
similar bicibus traditions, as well.

A sense of camaraderie and companionship

Boix said she finds herself waking up earlier than usual every Friday
out of excitement for the ride. She and her son ride their bikes to
school in the morning most days. On the day of the bicibus, she said,
he "enjoys the ride and the freedom."

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The joy, even just watching videos on social media, is infectious.
Bystanders stop and take pictures of the group. Some of the children
even sport bicibus jerseys. Some on social media have commented on
how the bicibus shows what it means to rethink public space.

Boix said the camaraderie and companionship that have come with
organizing and taking part in the rides becomes a little emotional,
too.

"We have all felt emotional in one of the rides at some point. It is
a group of people convinced that things can be done a bit
differently," she said. "That we are not asking for something strange
or impossible."

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