If the infrastructure is unsafe I don’t feel comfortable encouraging people to use it. So until we get it to an acceptable level, we need to message “wouldn’t you like to be able to have AT choice’s available to you?”
Andy is conveniently ignoring that the Dutch got their cycling revolution through protests focused on children dying. If cyclists in his city tried to participate in the same types of protests that got the Dutch their culture change they would be violently attacked & gassed by the local police department.
The last month of the 2025-2026 school year, parents from my neighborhood's public school started a bike bus (I wrote about it here: https://bit.ly/4qHD35F).
We are a neighborhood with lower volume streets, but also two major commuter routes. So these rides are not without their challenges.
After summer break began. I noticed more kids on bikes, with and without their parents, both through our neighborhood business district and along the quieter streets and enclaves near their homes.
The new school year started last week. Our bike bus has resumed, this time with two additional routes to cover more of the neighborhood. Normally impatient drivers give way with good grace as we take both lanes of a busy road for the last 2+ blocks to school.
I have a hunch that kids on bikes riding on our streets will do more to change the discussion around traffic calming in our neighborhood than anything else we've done.
If the infrastructure is unsafe I don’t feel comfortable encouraging people to use it. So until we get it to an acceptable level, we need to message “wouldn’t you like to be able to have AT choice’s available to you?”
I'm not suggesting you lie about infrastructure. Does your community have any low-stress streets? Richmond VA, for example, has many.
Andy is conveniently ignoring that the Dutch got their cycling revolution through protests focused on children dying. If cyclists in his city tried to participate in the same types of protests that got the Dutch their culture change they would be violently attacked & gassed by the local police department.
The last month of the 2025-2026 school year, parents from my neighborhood's public school started a bike bus (I wrote about it here: https://bit.ly/4qHD35F).
We are a neighborhood with lower volume streets, but also two major commuter routes. So these rides are not without their challenges.
After summer break began. I noticed more kids on bikes, with and without their parents, both through our neighborhood business district and along the quieter streets and enclaves near their homes.
The new school year started last week. Our bike bus has resumed, this time with two additional routes to cover more of the neighborhood. Normally impatient drivers give way with good grace as we take both lanes of a busy road for the last 2+ blocks to school.
I have a hunch that kids on bikes riding on our streets will do more to change the discussion around traffic calming in our neighborhood than anything else we've done.
This is the way! 🥰