Flame shaped streamers flicker in the morning breeze. Graffiti adorned helmets are secure. The sun is low. Birds tweet. As Scarborough awakens, the bike bus is ready to roll.
鈥淩emember your signals and stay close,鈥 says Emily Smit, wearing a neon yellow jacket to match her bike trailer.聽
The small cycling convoy pulls out onto Brimley Rd. on their way to Corvette Junior Public School, more than two kilometres away.聽
They鈥檙e such a strange site in car-centric Scarborough that SUVs slow down to check them out as if they were deer on the side of the road.
鈥淲e start out as a family, and neighbours see us and join in,鈥 Smit says.
More than two thirds of students in the greater 色色啦 and Hamilton area are driven to school. It creates more traffic, pollution and sedentary kids, not to mention the fact that it has led to accidents and student deaths.
But getting kids walking or biking to school has proven difficult, especially because pedestrians and cyclists are so vulnerable, with collisions leading to serious injuries and deaths alarmingly frequent.
Enter , a grassroots initiative started by Smit and neighbour Leslie MacNeill as a way to provide safety in numbers and encourage students to ride.
Parents and volunteers ride bikes with kids to school having fun and practicing bike safety.聽
Nick Lachance 色色啦 StarThe community convoy received funding from the city of 色色啦 last year as one of the recipients of the Neighbourhood Climate Action Grants, and they used the money to run workshops on learning to ride, bike safety and maintenance.
The grants provide up to $7,500 to neighbourhood groups to increase awareness and engagement on climate action at the local level. Twenty three groups, ranging from a seniors鈥 repair cafe in Port Union to a community fridge and pantry in Willowdale, received grants last year.
Applications for this year are open until June 12, and any resident-led group with a good idea is encouraged to .
鈥淚t has been really inspirational for me to see these projects, how unique they are and the different approaches that people take,鈥 said Sharene Shafie, Project Lead with the City鈥檚 Climate Action Team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great bringing people together from all corners of the city for the environment,鈥 she said.
Any neighbourhood group can apply as long as it has members from more than one household and the project helps reduce emissions or educate the public on climate action.
鈥淲hat’s really key is that the projects will be of service to the community, really meeting the needs of the community and aren鈥檛 really something that’s just a cool idea that’s being imposed on the neighbourhood,鈥 Shafie added.
Cyclists big and small joined the bike bus as it wound its way to school earlier this week, with adults bookending the faster kids speeding ahead and slower kids falling behind. They lined up to wait for the light to change and waited for the GO train to pass before traversing the tracks.
Arriving at school with verve: fists in the air, bells ringing and smiles wide open.
鈥淭hat was so fun!鈥 said Grade 4 student Lou Cassidy.
Other kids in the schoolyard take notice and ask how to get involved. It鈥檚 simple, really: get a bunch of neighbours together and get started.
鈥淛ust start riding and people will join,鈥 Smit says with a smile.
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