Bike / Walk to School Days Eliminate 1200 Car Trips

April 2nd, 2009: School District SMMUSD approves a comprehensive resolution supportive of cycling for pupils and staff.

May 2009: SAMOHI students (Solar Alliance), members of LACBC and Santa Monica Spoke convene to organize Bike/Walk to school events in the district (One high school and two middle schools). We invite students to become campus bicycle ambassadors, beginning with a short course on bike safety taught by League of American Bicyclists certified Cycling Instructors.
Interaction with police, administrators and teachers, the city provides valet bike parking and conducts traffic counts on the approaches. A bike safety curriculum for the classroom is made available for home-room use. Students invited to become bike safety ambassadors.

June 10/12: Bike/Walk to school events with approximately 1200 students choosing non-motorized mode. One school sees more than six-fold increase in number of bicycles (15 to 92)

June 16: District PTSA approves budget for bicycle safety programs of more than 3000$. This will allow the program to expand to other schools in the district and start their own local program.



Thanks to the enthusiasm of high school students who wanted to bring the bike to the younger ranks, thanks to the work over the past four years by Alison Kendall, an urban planning consultant and Santa Monica High PTSA Transportation Committee Chair, and much good will brought our way, we find us now mid-way into a scholastic bicycle revolution in Santa Monica. Next term we shall have the advantage of starting early in the year with an established program to build on, more word of mouth, and more classroom support by teachers, including an interdisciplinary bike curriculum. We shall advertise the Safe Cycling Class to parents at PTA meetings early in the term, we want to work with the police to establish a helmet ticket diversion program, and we have invited the principal to “The Principal’s Bike Ride.” We shall assist teachers to find bike related activities for Community Service element and establish closer contact with PE teachers. Then comes the expansion and improvement of current bike parking facilities. Yes, there is plenty of room for interested parents and teachers to work with us. Why not set up a bicycle user group of teachers in the district?

Now join us to continue our work with an approved budget in the background: Some call it modal shift, we call it fun. And lets get rid of those helmets on the handlebar and put them where they belong: On the head!

The Numbers:
Lincoln Middle School (1190 students), 357 participants (206 walkers, 92 bikers, school bus 2, transit 14, skateboard 43) Helmet use among cyclists more than 75 %.

John Adams Middle School (990 students), 415 participants (311 walkers, 71 bikers, 24 bus riders, and 9 arriving by skateboard or scooter) 75% of cyclists arriving on campus wearing helmets.

SAMOHI (3200 students), 442 participants (166 bikers, 130 walkers, 111 transit, 35 skateboard) (some gates not counted)

Statistical data for one school regarding modal choices in each class is available