Record number of Sonoma County students bike to school

AMY MOORE

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

May 8, 2024

Students from a record number of Sonoma County schools jumped onto their bikes Wednesday morning for Bike to School Day.

This year, 56 schools across the county registered to participate in the third annual day that celebrates the joys of bicycling and raises awareness of prioritizing health, safety and the planet, according to organizers.

Twenty-eight of the schools organized bike trains, which gather experienced bikers with beginners to help them feel more comfortable. People meet up at a stop, usually a local park or landmark, and a teacher, principal or parent leads the train of bikers.

“Compared to last year, when it rained, we expect the turnout to be amazing,” said Christina Panza, director of Safe Routes to Schools.

Representatives with Safe Routes to Schools, an international movement to increase the number of children who safely walk and bicycle to school, visits schools throughout the county to teach students how to bike safely through city streets. They offer “bike rodeos,” which are skills and safety classes where some students even learn how to bike, and bring a mobile bike shop to do safety checks on students’ bikes.

Petaluma schools have organized bike trains for the last three years. Parent volunteers made a map with four routes.

“We set it up like a train schedule: Here’s the time the train leaves, have your kids at the stop,” said David Felix, of Petaluma, whose two children attend McNear Elementary School. .

Orange safety vests mark unsafe or busy intersections where parent volunteers stopped traffic to keep kids safe.

There were at least 12 bike trains in just Petaluma, said Deb Fox, with Cool Petaluma, a grassroots effort that focuses on climate advocacy, which partnered with the city and Safe Routes to Schools.

“We even had a bike bus of riders going across town,” Fox said. Many parents leading the trains told her they want to do it more.

At McNear Elementary, parents counted 54 bikes in the racks. And at Santa Rosa Charter for the Arts, parents counted 27 bikes in the rack, compared to the usual two to five.

As she tallied the total number of students biking, Panza wondered: “How many cars did we take off the road?”

One student walking or biking to school just one mile, one day a week saves 100 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, “or about 100 car miles, give or take, depending on the car,” Panza said.

So biking is good for the environment. And more importantly, it’s fun. Felix said he hopes the Petaluma bike trains will run more often.

“Kids said they love biking and wish they could do it every day,” he said.

Napa County will hold its combined Bike to Work and School Day on May 16, as part of the county’s Bike Month.

You can reach Breaking News Intern Amy Moore at 707-526-8545 or amy.moore@pressdemocrat.com.