The Riding School Bus - Ocean City Intermediate School May, 2009

What could be more fun than to ride your bike to school with dozens of friends and classmates? Throw in the chief of police and a few local officers, some teachers and the school principal and you have a pretty cool ride indeed.

Students at the Ocean City Intermediate School took the inaugural trip of the “Riding School Bus” bright and early on Monday morning. Meeting at two locations, First Street and the Boardwalk and 34th Street and Haven Avenue, the “it’s cool to ride your bike to school” campaign was a huge hit.

“The kids loved it, it was awesome fun,” said Sgt. Dave Hall of the Ocean City Police Department. “It was a great opportunity for them to get out and enjoy themselves and for us to stress bike safety, it was great.”

The north end group, led by Kevin Redmond, started at First Street and rode the Boardwalk to 18th Street, crossing to the school. The south end group, led by Mark Reimet, used the city’s new bike path to safely ride to school. Both groups, including nearly 100 students arrived at the OCIS within a minute of each other.

The “Riding School Bus” was just that; children riding together, with stops along the way to “pick up” waiting friends. Entire neighborhoods mobilized to join the fun as the “buses” progressed.

“It’s been so exciting, it’s like a buzz, it just keeps getting louder,” said Drew Fasy, who leads the Mayor’s Council on Physical Fitness and was instrumental in planning both the bike path and the school bus concept. “It kind of grew legs as we went along. We’ve all been very pleasantly surprised by how people have bought into it. Everyone is so excited, the parents, the kids, everyone. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Fasy said the concept stems from a federal program, the National Center for Safe Routes to School, established in 2006. The program assists communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bike to school. The Center strives to equip Safe Routes to School programs with the knowledge and technical information to implement safe and successful strategies.

“We held a pep rally on Friday in school to discuss the concept,” said Fasy. “We’ve been working on it for a while. We hoped to get maybe a few dozen kids, this has been incredible. It’s great.”

The Ocean City Police Department was instrumental in bringing the modern school bus to life. Sgt. Pat Randles visited the school to encourage the students, and explain the ground rules.

“He was great,” said Fasy. “He’s at the school a lot and he really knows how to talk to the kids. They’re tuned in; you can tell they have great respect for him. They were so excited to go bike riding with him. He explained that they had to wear a helmet or they couldn’t ride along. It’s all about safety. I learned a lot from him, I have a newfound respect for how these guys have developed positive relationships with these kids.”

“You have to protect your noggin,” Randles told the students, adding that they could not expect cars to see or stop for them. Randles told the students it was their responsibility to pay attention and be aware of their surroundings, to ride with traffic, establish eye contact, use hand signals and obey traffic laws. Using eggs, Fasy and Randles illustrated what might happen to an unprotected head in a bicycle collision, which made a big impact.

“We used humor, and it was a great visual,” said Fasy. “The big thing is safety, and we’re trying to encourage bike riding, to be safe and ride smart.”

Fasy said it’s all about being green and protecting the environment.

“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but think of each trip to school, multiplied by the number of students,” he said. “It’s one less car trip, one less trip where you aren’t spewing pollutants in the air. Each of us can make an impact on the environment. In addition its great exercise. It’s more productive and healthier to ride your bike to school. No one likes to be sick, if you exercise, you’ll be sick less.”

Fasy said local businessman Tim Richards installed a bike rack for the students at his office building at 34th Street and Haven Avenue.

“This way, the kids in the south end can lock their bikes there and get a ride to 34th Street if need be,” he said. In addition, city council amended the bike riding ordinance to allow students to ride on the Boardwalk after school after May 15 when bicycles would normally have to be off the boards by noon.

“This is a neat program,” said Fasy. “All you have to do is get your kids to the route, and they ride together. There is so much enthusiasm.”

OCIS principal Dr. Pamela Vaughan said she was psyched.

“We’re hoping to jump start the program and let the parents keep this going,” she said. “We hope the kids get hooked. People are really excited about it, it’s great!”