Kindergartner Jack Gerhard loves going fast — especially on his bike.

“The bike bus is downhill so I can go fast, but I also like to steer the bus,” Jack said.

Jack’s talking about the cardboard school bus his dad, Chad, built and placed on a bike trailer. Jack has "driven" it during the new Bobcat Bike Bus, a group ride to school that began this spring.

Butler students ride from Bywater Park through neighborhood streets to their elementary school as part of the newly formed Bobcat Bike Bus. (Photo courtesy of Chad Gerhard)

“We’re a big biking family so we were really excited that Butler was forming a bike bus,” Gerhard said. “It pushes some students to do something challenging, maybe out of their comfort zone and it is fun for the community to come together. We ride in a group and the neighbors watch the kids go by; it’s like they’re in a parade.”

“I’m a fan of it; it’s a party on wheels,” said Cooper, who is an avid bike rider. “I love seeing kids get in rider group here at school. It’s better than riding alone. They have fun rolling, chitchatting on the way to school.”

Parent Sally Cooper promotes the ride on Instagram (@bobcatbikebus).

The bike bus launched on a cold Friday morning after spring break, with 20 riders meeting at Bywater Park. Riding by adults, the students followed a neighborhood route marked by yellow arrows. Participation grew as weather improved.

The rides will return this fall.

Parent Kayla Lengyel got the idea after watching a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment about a Portland bike bus.

“It was the gym teacher who started it, but there’s a movement all over,” she said. “I thought, ‘I want to start one of those. It looks fun.’”

She floated the idea to other parents, then teamed up with Cooper and parent Brad Buswell.

“I would start mentioning it to people and then say, ‘do you think that would be cool?’ Around January or February, we really got moving and started having meetings and discussing what needed to happen next. I talked to the school administration and the PTA to gain support,” she said.

Safety was a top priority.

“We designed a safe route, created fliers for the neighbors, got permission to put arrow signs in their yards. We had a Utah Department of Transportation’s Beat the Streets assembly, talking about pedestrian and active transportation safety that got the kids excited about it,” she said. “When I was younger, I had a road bike, but I felt uncomfortable riding on the roads with crazy drivers or cars parked in the bike lanes. But by riding in a group, it's safer and our route between Bywater Park and Butler zigzags on interior neighborhood roads so we avoid the main roads.”

On Friday mornings this spring, students and parents formed the Bobcat Bike Bus, riding about one mile to Butler Elementary School. (Photo courtesy of the Bobcat Bike Bus)

Her daughter, Cora, helped promote the rides.

“We went before school with a poster about it, getting some buzz going. She was telling everyone, ‘The ride is Friday’ and answered questions,” Lengyel said.

Each week, a mix of students and adults joined the under one-mile ride.

“This takes five to 10 minutes, but it makes such a big difference for the kids, because it inspires a lot of confidence. It’s good for adults too, because we’re meeting each other, even if our kids aren't in the same class,” she said.

Buswell, who serves on Cottonwood Heights’ Active Transportation subcommittee, helped bring the idea to life.

“The subcommittee had previously talked that it would be a cool thing to do, but never got it going,” he said. “So, when Kayla suggested it, I was all in. I'm a big fan of active transportation — biking, walking, rolling, scooters.”

The father of two Butler students sees benefits far beyond fitness.

“It helps mental and emotional health from exercising and the adrenaline which comes that — and that's a positive — as is being outside, feeling the sun and the wind, hearing the birds. As adults, we often forget biking is a measure of independence for kids; they can get around on their own, like riding over to a friend's house on a safe route,” he said. “This is a good entry level into biking more and hopefully, they want to keep riding with their friends.”

Lengyel and Buswell hope to expand to more routes, more days and schools.

“I would love to help other people start bike busses by sharing how we approached it and all the details,” Lengyel said. 

Buswell added success depends on local leadership.

“We’ll need local parents to be the champions who would be helping with it, and we’d love to support them as they launch their own bike bus,” he said.

Lengyel added: “I want everyone to experience the joy of it; that's why we need to get it going at more schools.”