A P.E. teacher's bike route now draws 400 kids

About 450 "bike buses" now roll through American neighborhoods each week, fleets of parents and kids who pedal to school together instead of waiting for the big yellow one. The format is simple. Adults volunteer to ride alongside children, with kid-friendly job titles like "corker," who halts car traffic at intersections, and "caboose," which is self-explanatory. Sam Balto, a P.E. teacher in Portland, Oregon, started the movement's most famous route and co-founded Bike Bus World with New Jersey organizer Jessica Tillyer. "Biking to school felt lonely," Tillyer said, "and a little scary, because of the lack of bike infrastructure." A good day now draws up to 400 students in her town. The routes have real stops, flashing lights and, on at least one morning, a bubble machine strapped to a cargo bike. Last month Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined one in Brooklyn and announced plans for a new bike boulevard.