All on board the bike? – Indy Week

At 7:30 on a recent Wednesday morning on West Club Boulevard, Durham’s youngest troop began traveling to Ek Powe elementary school.

With jackets cipped in cold air, bicycle lights blink, and neon -visibility vests that catch the early rays of the sun West Durham.

The route, less than a kilometer, took the cyclists approximately the same time that he would take in a car. And with the right preparation, it was completely safe for children of any age.

The EK Powe bicycle train is not new. Parents and students have been gathering in this place for about a year and a half. But the group is of new importance, as Durham public schools are still missing bus transport for students and parents are looking for new ways to get their children safely at school. Last month, the area applied areas of “family responsibility” in which students do not receive regional transport for 21 elementary schools, including POWE.

Although cycling is not an option for everyone – the hikes can be expensive, and many roads in the Durham neighborhood are built for fast cars, not for children of bikes – the organizers of Powe parents hope that other residents are similar in similar residents way.

“Anyone can come, anyone can ride,” says Scottie Mates, a co -organizer of bicycle trains with David Bradwei. “The kids really enjoy him. They talk, a poster, they compete a little, and it’s just another time they can see their friends and just have fun before school and get stuck for the day. ”

Indi Can it be, regardless of checking whether the children seem to enjoy all parts of the ride-before the train remains with bicycles, several novice-cycles were spotted rotating, putting rocks on a frozen puddle. And once they are adult enough to drive unattended, they will enjoy the freedom to have their own set of two wheels.

The Powe bicycle train also takes advantage of the support of Bike Durham, a non -profit purpose that is advocated for safe and fair access to cycling, walking and transit. While he is in a hurry to provide help to DPS families, when needed, Bike Durham has seen an opportunity in the bus crisis to promote cycling. Jacopo Montobbio, the manager of the non -profit education program, lives in the neighborhood. That morning, he started to hand out the bicycle lights and the Durm stickers to the students.

However, throughout the city, Monthobbio is more worried than the safety of students visiting Hope Valley elementary. As ABC11 reported, many students walking or cycling there will have to go through university driving, where cars press 40 miles / h in an area of ​​25 miles / h and there is no appropriate intersection.

“Our work at Bike Durham is to make sure we hear from these local neighborhood organizations and make sure these projects will reach the city, either through DPS or through us,” says Montobbio.

Mates hopes that this crisis leads to some lasting, positive change in the city.

“They will probably fix the problem, get more bus drivers, and then forget about all the work,” he says. “But the next time there is a crisis, the streets may be ready and the infrastructure will be available to make it easier for the next generation of children to be able to safely walk and a school wheel.”

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