Click here to download our handy walking, bicycle and school bus safety education packet for grades K-5.

Traffic gardens are kid-sized urban environments where children can explore and learn the rules of the road in a space free of moving vehicles. Low cost and quick-to-install, traffic gardens offer opportunities to beautify unused lots and teach students how to safely navigate neighborhoods on foot or bike. In addition to teaching road safety, student participation in traffic garden design and development incorporates STEM concepts such as engineering, problem-solving, and math. Interested in implementing a traffic garden at your school? Contact Nikki Dildine to get started.

We work with schools and parents to develop safe and fun routes from neighborhood “clusters” – the spots where many school families live. Working together, we’ll determine the best transit, bicycle, or carpool routes. If you are interested in providing useful information school-wide, we are a resource on how to efficiently use MATA’s app, the best bicycling tips, multimodal ideas for school commutes, and the health benefits of walking and biking.

If we can help your school with route planning, please let us know.

The Germantown Municipal School District has partnered with Bike the Planet to create a comprehensive bicycle curriculum that is an excellent model for expansion to other areas of the Memphis metro area. Visit their website here to view a plethora of valuable available resources.

Bike clubs are a practical yet fun way to promote bicycling as a healthy, easy, and safe way to get to school. As an organized group, a bike club can put together group rides, teach skills, and emphasize safe bicycling.

A typical curriculum may include:

• Rules of the road

• ABC spin check

• Shifting gears

• Street riding strategies

• How to plan a route

• How to carry things by bike

• Dos and Don’ts

• Hand signals

• Group rides

If you are interested in learning more about starting a bike club at your school, we are here to help! Contact us here.

Studies show that children who exercise are more focused and do better in school. Bicycling to school is a great way to get exercise, reduce traffic congestion, and prepare students for a day of learning. Students and parents who might be intimidated by navigating the route to school alone would probably enjoy the camaraderie and safety of a group ride, especially when led by a seasoned cyclist. Bike Trains are the perfect way to offer safe and fun rides to and from school.

Commute Options can help school administration or a parents’ group plan a bike train to start in a predetermined location convenient to students. We will design the route so the train will pass by several “stations” – stopping places convenient for more students to join the train.

The Bike Trains are easy to promote through flyers, emails, posters, and social media posts. Our resources are available to help you:

• Plan a route

• Invite participants

• Outline a code of conduct

• Explain the way a Bike Train works, suggest what to do if a student lives too far away to join, and list the train “stations”

• Remind parents/students of the dates, code of conduct, and the route

If you are interested in hosting a bike train, let us know! We’ll be glad to help.

Memphis has several neighborhood schools with families living within a mile or two of the building. For these families, bicycling to school can be a safe and fun option, thanks to low-stress neighborhood streets and crossing guards at the large intersections closest to the school. 

But what about the safety of bikes once students have arrived at school? Some schools have sturdy bike racks available, but others do not.

Commute Options had great success with an artful bike rack installation at Idlewild Elementary. You can learn more about it at StoryBoard Memphis and Facebook. We provided input to help administration, parents, and community members:

• Utilize two car parking spaces for our bike rack, and use a third space to paint a needed buffer zone for a handicap parking space

• Measure, clean, and prepare the space to be painted

• Work with a local artist for the design

• Paint the space in bright colors

• Reinstall the bike rack

We are ready to help provide resources to any school interested in improving an on-site bike rack for students. Let us know how we can help you improve your school’s ability to keep bicycles safe.

What’s so great about carpooling? Aside from the money you’ll save on car maintenance and gas, the ride to school is lots more fun with friends along! You’ll also get your young riders to school faster, since carpoolers can use the HOV lane. Plus, carpooling is easier on the environment.

A School Pool connects parents to find carpool buddies by setting up a map of all the families in the school. The map is protected so that only school families can access it and any family could use a nearby intersection, instead of their actual street address. As an added bonus, a school pool may also be used to help parents find bicycling and walking buddies, as well as babysitters and playdates for younger siblings.

If your school is interested in setting up a school pool, we are here to help!

Contact us here to find out how we can help school families start carpooling.