All aboard Holmes Elementary’s ‘bike bus,’ which teaches kids independence and safe ridership to and from school

For a handful of Holmes Elementary kids, the big yellow school bus is out and the “bike bus” is in.

In the West Central Neighborhood school, some opt for a less traditional approach. Led by experienced adult riders, kids peddle single file down city streets on their way to and from school and make stops at each kids’ home.

Not only does it get kids outside and active, riding with adults teaches them bike safety and builds their confidence to ride independently once they’re older.

“It’s about instilling bike safety that us adults do on the road,” said Chelsea Hardenbrook, operations manager for River City Youth Ops, which organizes the bike bus rides, supplies kids with bikes and helmets and teaches bike safety. “We use hand signals, wear helmets, that kind of thing.”

On Thursday afternoon, six kids gathered by the bike racks outside Holmes where several volunteers waited, clad in neon vests, whistles, a first aid kit and, of course, helmets.

Volunteer Barb Stuebing brought an electric tire pump and grease and promptly began inspecting the pint-sized bikes, filling tires wherever necessary.

The bike bus is Stuebing’s brainchild. An avid cyclist, her now-grown children rode to their school, and she watched their confidence grow as bikers. When they were older, she didn’t have to chauffeur them to work or their friends’ houses, as they preferred to ride themselves.

“The thing I saw different with my own kids was that they were just a lot more independent,” she said. “I didn’t have to drive them around.”

She saw the concept online and thought it would be a good fit in Spokane. With an avid cyclist community and plenty of kids, she could see the opportunity to teach them safe ridership like using helmets, hugging the curb and staying predictable for motorists.

“It starts when they’re young,” she said. “Just little safety things that’s all second nature once they’re 13, 14, 15 and ready to ride alone.”

Volunteers led kids on two different routes through West Central, with volunteer Hailey Coll at the helm of one and Hardenbrook leading another.

Kids peddled down neighborhood streets in the cool autumn afternoon, as they eyed spookily decorated homes while deciduous trees changed color overhead.

“I like to see houses where I’ve never been to,” said second-grader Lucy Ziegler, “to see new things and stuff, and sometimes I get to ride with different people.”

Along the ride, Coll chats with kids about their day at school while slowly guiding the pack. At each turn, she directs the kids to use the proper hand signals and assumes a guardian position in the middle of the street as the small cyclists cross the road.

There’s not one bike lane along the route, though drivers slow to a crawl and leave a wide berth when passing the horde, often smiling and waving. One driver offered a honk and thumbs-up in encouragement.

“Motorists typically stop for us – but it’s kind of hit or miss,” Hardenbrook said. “That’s why it’s good we’re in this group.”

Still, traveling along both arterials and residential streets makes clear a problem for volunteers like Tami Linane-Booey, who teaches at the Community School and runs a bicycle program there.

“West Central does need a corridor area that’s more bike friendly,” she said.

The routes they travel are either absent of bike lanes or laden with potholes – or both.

“They live on busy streets because that’s where the affordable housing is and they’re not the safest streets to ride,” she said.

Still in its first week of operation, Hardenbrook hopes to increase bike bus ridership through more outreach and visibility for the program, and she’s already getting more interest.

Before they took off from Holmes, a parent came over to the group and asked what all the bikes were about and how she could involve her kids.

Hardenbrook said 40 different kids are interested in the program through River City Youth Ops, which also distributes free bikes and helmets to kids. She’d like to grow the program to other West Central schools, with interest at Yasuhara Middle and North Central High schools.

“There’s a lot of kids who already bike a fair amount,” Hardenbrook said. “It’s not about racing or being fast, it’s about if we abide by these certain rules on the road, we’ll be safer.”