Everybody on the bike bus!

Bobby Beattie leads Winnipeg’s newest biker gang by blasting a bubble machine and Pancake Robot, among other kid-friendly song requests, from a boombox attached to his cargo ebike.

Beattie’s squad of schoolchildren and parent volunteers on wheels stop dog walkers and drivers in their tracks when they travel around Corydon.

That’s one of the many goals of the “bike bus” — to remind drivers they’re sharing city streets with children.

“On one hand, it’s about kids getting to school safely and participating in this active transit,” Beattie said after dropping his eight-year-old twins and their peers off at Earl Grey School last week.

“On the other hand, it’s an educational moment because through showing them proper riding etiquette, we can teach them the skills they need to stay safe, even when they’re not biking in a group, and I think that’s equally important.”

Inspired by the growing bike bus movement, both locally and internationally, Beattie successfully pitched the idea to the principal and parent council at Earl Grey in the fall.

The concept blew up in 2022 when Sam Balto, a phys-ed teacher in Portland, Ore., went viral for his bike bus videos. Balto (@coachbalto) has since launched the non-profit Bike Bus World and hosted Justin Timberlake, Zara Larsson and other celebrities on rides.

Inspired by Balto, École Provencher boasts what is believed to be the first and longest-running bike bus in Manitoba.

It was founded in 2023 by teacher-librarian Suzanne Simpson and Ian Walker, a father at the St. Boniface elementary school who is currently the chair of Safe Speeds Winnipeg.

“The kids at school call it the ‘party bus’ and I agree — it is like attending a party on your way to work,” Simpson said, adding it’s been heartening to see students get exercise, enjoy the outdoors and socialize during commutes.

The St. Boniface-area bike bus has grown to include students from Provencher and nearby École Henri-Bergeron, a three-minute bike ride away. A recent run drew about 70 participants.

Sage Creek School’s bike bus, which is coordinated by teacher Amanda Lake, attracted nearly 50 students on a recent spring day.

Lake credited the program’s success to a new policy she helped create: students in the Louis Riel School Division can now join bike buses without a parent present, as long as their family signs a waiver.

Prior to her first group ride of the year, she helped put on a bike repair night for families across the division on May 7 at École Howden.

Howden, as well as Winnipeg’s École St. Germain and Robert H. Smith School, are also organizing bike buses this year.

One Grade 3 member of Earl Grey’s squad said being a part of the new cycling group makes him feel like a celebrity in the neighbourhood.

Pete, an eight-year-old rider who describes himself as “really fast,” said he was excited to learn about the initiative this year.

“It sounded really fun and I love biking,” Pete said, adding one of his favourite parts of the morning commute is dodging potholes.

Beattie rounded up volunteers to organize an assembly, surveyed interested families on intersections near their houses to create a route and secured high-vis equipment so they could host the first ride in early May.

It’s critical that adults are trained to monitor intersections and keep all riders safe, he said. The “sweep” of the group carries a first aid kit.

Nearly 30 people, including 10 students, joined the morning bike bus — also known as a “bicibús” at the Spanish bilingual school — on Friday.

“Childhood should include a little independence and a little adventure,” Beattie said. “It should mean riding to school with your friends instead of sitting in a line of cars. It should mean parents getting to know their neighbours instead of waving through windshields.”

Long before bike buses were a viral phenomenon, Beattie purchased a cargo ebike in a shade branded as “school bus yellow.” As is, it’s an appropriate vehicle to lead the pack to and from Earl Grey on Fridays throughout the spring, but he’s taken his decor one step further by equipping it with a school bus-themed children’s tent.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca