About 20 local schools will receive bike cages this spring. This will be possible thanks to a partnership between the Green Action Centre and the City.
This month is Bike to School Month, an annual event that is coordinated by Green Action Center for schools all over Manitoba. Sean Carlson, the Program Co-ordination with The Active and Safe Routes to School Program at Green Action Center, explained why it can be so important to bike or walk to school and what Green Action Center is doing to raise awareness for that this month.
Green Action Center, has a program that helps to inspire kids to start biking or walking to school as well as teaches kids in the program the benefits of starting out the day with physical activity.
The school can choose to participate in the program for a day, week or month and Green Action Center will help coordinate activities centered around learning about bikes, riding, health lessons and tracking students who are biking to school in May.
Children need to be instructed by parents about safety on the road and also how to store bike safely. As the statistics show, the number of bike thefts has grown by more than 80% over the past 5 years. This situation probably contributed to the fact that children stopped riding bikes to and from their schools.
Secure bike parking is the first step to make bike riding again popular among students and parents in the city.