Big Victory for Cycling in Arlington, MA: Bike to School Ban Lifted at the Hardy Elementary School

After years of a unwritten but uncontested ban on kids biking to school, the Hardy School in Arlington, MA launched a pilot that would allow and support children arriving on two-wheels. Ever since my son Lorenzo was in in Kindergarten ( he is graduating from the 5th grade), I have questioned, challenged and uncovered what proved to be a long-standing unwritten policy among the Arlington elementary school principals that openly discouraged kids from biking to school. This unwritten policy apparently was initiated years ago by a previous superintendent on no grounds other than the fact they did not want kids biking to school.

Over the past nine months, I and several other energetic cycling advocates have met numerous times with the school committee and the superintendent to discuss this ban and to ask for another chance to get kids biking to school again. Despite an intense resistance from many crossing guards and the superintendent, we presented our Bike To School Pilot at a public Forum in Decemeber. The pilot, based on the best practices of the hugely successful Safe Routes to School program, also incorporated the concerns and structural limitations of the Hardy. In January, the school committee, community relations subcommittee (with key cheerleaders Jeff Thielman, Ron Spangler and Susan Scheffler) met with the Transportation Advisory Committee and the Hardy School Principal Deb D'Amico and agreed to allow the Bike to School Pilot, which we call Hardy Safe Routes to School.

We launched the Hardy Bike to School Pilot on Wednesday May 6th under cloudy skies but with lots of enthusiastic kids seeking out their green hand stamps! It does take much to fascinate kids around biking and walking. Although most of the kids are walking, those that biked no longer need to feel like they are breaking the law. A GO GREEN calendar was sent home in kid's folders and their job is to track their walk/bike days.

On June 6th they will count the days they walk or bike, tally up the distance and pass in their calendars at the official GREEN BOX in the lobby of the Hardy school. Our GREEN team will tally up the total number of participants and the total mileage walked or bike, a number that is likely to be in hundreds!

On Tuesday June 9th we will have a GO GREEN party in the playground of the Hardy School. All kids who participate will be eligible for the final raffles and hundreds of dollars of prizes from Belmont Wheelworks, Quad Bicycles, ATA Bicycles and Ciclismo Classico

I wish to thank the many parents, school committee members and Principal D'Amico who have helped to make this vision of cycling to school in the Arlington, a reality, at least for now at the Hardy. We are optimistic that other Arlington Elementary Schools will choose to make a difference and begin taking small steps to reduce childhood obesity, traffic gridlock and teaching kids healthy lifestyle choices that will make a difference in their lives and our planet's future. Cycling and walking as a form of transportation is the Convenient Truth that will help reduce auto emissions and improve the quality of our urban lives. We hope Arlington will begin encouraging parents and kids to bike and walk to school as a matter of townwide policy. Shifting habits away from always driving to school sends a powerful message to children: it inspires them and their parents to try biking and walking to do errands, to extra-curricular events and to the many sports fields around town, most of which are accessible via our wonderful Minute Man Bike Path, one of the most used ( ad loved) paths in the country.

But we still want BIKE RACKS The biggest gap in the pilot is the school department's resistance to having a bike rack placed on school grounds despite the fact that there is plenty of room for one. While there is a bike rack on the bike path near the school, that location is inconvenient for most users and akin to having teachers park their cars block away. A bike rack not only allows children and parents to conveniently park their safely bikes out of the way of sidewalk users, but A bike rack teaches children that bikes are a vehicle that needs to be parked properly. For teachers and visitors to the school who arrive by bike, a bike rack is as much of a transportation right and courtesy as a parking lot. The biggest concern stated by the superintendent is vandelism but there is no basis for this concern. I have locked my bike around the school for six years and it has never been touched. My 30 years of cycling has taught me that the best way to prevent bike theft (in relatively safe areas) is to use a Kryptonite U lock. I have never had a bike stolen when I locked my bike properly with the right lock.

Stay tuned for updates! For now GO GREEN HARDY and please feel free to express support for our Bike to School initiatives and our need for bike racks in your comments below! Tell our town school leaders that Bikes Belong and offer a transportation choice that improves the quality of life of our community.

Go Green Festa!

Go Green Party Tuesday June 9th. Rain Day June 10th
Prizes, Green Popsicles and a Special Appearance by Super Cyclist and local Cycling Legend Bobby Mac of Quad Bicycles

HARDY SCHOOL PARENTS: Hopefully many of you have been walking or biking to school over the last month. We are in our final week of our GO GREEN month. Don’t forget to track your walking or biking to school trips on the official GREEN calendar. Tally up the total and pass it in at the BIG GREEN BOX in the Main Lobby on Friday, June 6th. Remember it does not matter how far or how many days you walked, all participants have a chance to win.

Our Green Team will tally up all the totals and present the final results at our GO GREEN PARTY on Tuesday June 9th at 2:30 in the Playground! Green Popsicles for all participants. We hope you can all be there dressed in Green and ready to cheer on this wonderful initiative. We have lots of prizes for everyone that participated.

There will be a final drawing for over $500 dollars of really cool Bike Prizes donated by Wheelworks, ATA, Quad Bicycle Shops and Ciclismo Classico

Be there, Be Seen and Be Green

Lauren and the Green Team