Bike Bans: A Serious Threat to Safe Routes to School

Banned in NJ: Many Jersey towns don't allow kids to bike to school. Photo: Voorhees Transportation Center Image Library, Leigh Ann Von Hagen.

This May, a bill surfaced in the U.S. Senate that would triple federal funding for Safe Routes to School programs. Livable Streets Community activists have been on the case this week, mobilizing support for the measure. In many communities, however, local policies also have to change to help kids get to school by walking or biking.

Leigh Ann Von Hagen -- a planner at Rutgers' NJ Safe Routes to School Resource Center -- writes about the uphill battle New Jersey advocates are fighting in school districts where students have actually been banned from biking:

Hagen brought the bike ban to the attention of activists in the Collingswood Streets group, who promptly got going on a campaign to convince the local school board to overturn the ban.

Also this week: Out west, the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition is calling for suggestions on where to conduct LA's first-ever bike and pedestrian count. And in NYC, we're pleased to welcome Harlem & Hamilton Heights Livable Streets and to see the resurgence of Bike Hoboken and the Brooklyn Bridge Cycle Track Advocates.