In Orlando Florida, one of the worst places to ride a bike in America, some high school students are taking back the streets:
High School Bike Bus from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo. Via Streetsblog.
Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles, elementary and high school groups go on field trips to the auto show:
No doubt our educational dollars were well spent showing the kids the informative educational displays:
I noticed that some of the students at the car show had been given traffic safety pamphlets about how to safely ride bikes. Car companies have been producing pedestrian and bike safety info for years. At the risk of being somewhat conspiratorial, auto industry produced safety materials often carry a hidden message that walking and biking are dangerous, marginal activities. Actually biking to school together like the Florida students as well as walking school buses send a much better message, in my opinion.
The good news is that, in car-centric cities like Orlando and Los Angeles there is a growing awareness that alternative transportation arrangements need to be made quickly. Here in LA we’ve got a lot of work to do.
Thanks to Elon Schoenholz for scoring two free passes to the car show. It’s good to check out how the consensus trance is holding up.