The Portland Bureau of Transportation wants to help the local bike bus movement maintain its momentum. The city will use a $50,000 grant from Metro to launch a pilot program to improve bike bus wayfinding and signage on the route and at stops for several schools. Bike buses are group rides to school that meet at one location and then pick students up along the way.
The grant is one of dozens of awards handed out by Metro as part of their Regional Travel Options program. This year’s allocation totaled nearly $9 million with projects funded throughout the region (stay tuned for stories on other interesting projects).
If you’ve been paying attention, this partnership should not come as a surprise. Back in June we reported that not only has PBOT Director Millicent Williams and City Traffic Engineer Wendy Cawley shown up to ride local bike buses, but the city itself is organizing them for its employees. We also talked about the need for route signage with leaders of the Abernethy Bike Bus last month.
According to a project description shared with Metro, PBOT Safe Routes to School program staff will partner with Bike Bus PDX to, “create a wayfinding strategy, criteria, and signage for bike and walk bus routes and stops.” Bike Bus PDX is a coalition of parents and advocates who organize biking and walking school buses at schools citywide. Their website lists 18 active buses.
While advocates have pushed for infrastructure changes to make bike bus routes safer — like more diverters to keep drivers off neighborhood streets — PBOT considers that a more long-term, higher-cost project. In the short-term, they can make the routes more visible so more people can participate.
Here’s more from a scope of work document PBOT shared with BikePortland:
More families and students will bike and walk to school if they feel safe, know which routes to take, and are able to join an organized group. PBOT SRTS staff often hears from established bike and walk bus participants that they continue to join because it is fun, and if something is fun, more people — especially kids — will do it.
The grant funds will be used to establish a working group of local bike bus leaders and PBOT staff. Design and pilot wayfinding prototypes for 3-5 schools (with a priority on Title 1 schools), and install new signage on routes and bike bus stops.
This is an exciting step for bike buses that could formalize and harden the concept, bringing it to more families and building even more momentum by the time schools are back in session in the fall. And don’t get hung up on the paltry $50,000 amount of this grant. The way these things work is that once a grant has been awarded, it can often pave the way for other funds and larger projects down the road.
I can’t wait to see what comes from this! PBOT expects to have the signage and wayfinding prototypes by spring 2025 and signage installed by June 2025. Stay tuned.