Parents at Cordley Elementary School will transform a transportation grant into a “rolling party” every Friday morning for kids to bike to school with trusted adults.
Cordley parent Hilary Carter is part of a coalition organizing a weekly bike bus for students full of exercise, time with friends and, naturally, bubble machines. A bike bus, she said, is a supervised group ride with a set route and stops, like a carpool on two wheels.
“This is my personal opinion, but kids don’t have enough opportunity to really get around and move, and some kids have trouble staying focused and on task at school,” she said. “And so, when kids are at bike bus, they just come in having burned up a little energy, they’re typically more focused and ready to learn.”
Under the banner of the Lawrence Coalition for Safe Streets nonprofit, Carter and her collaborators won the inaugural Safe Routes to School Programming Grant through the Kansas Department of Transportation this month.
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Carter estimates that they’ll start their weekly rides come September or even earlier.
The KDOT award will fund three years of a Cordley program, but Carter said the coalition was determined to make it happen regardless of money. They started testing the waters this spring with a one-off event on bike-to-school day.
“It felt really safe the whole time, which I think is important,” Cordley parent Meredith Bittel said. “… It was just a great way to start the day, you know, with positive atmosphere.”
Bittel will administer the grant and is excited to be a ride leader come fall. She said bike buses give young students a more “human pace” to their mornings, as they have time to notice the small things around them.
“I hope that down the road, through this experience, that it also empowers the kids that are a part of it to try new things to advocate for things they care about in their community,” Bittel said.
Data from the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department and Metropolitan Planning Organization shows that in fall of 2025, only 20% of students’ trips to and from Cordley were on foot or by bike. But biking with friends and loved ones can create core memories.
“I remember my mom biked us in a bike trailer when I was a kid once, and I remember it happening once, and I still remember it to this day,” Carter said. “… It was special.”
One spoke in the transportation wheel
Cordley parent and future ride leader Laura Shannon said bike buses aren’t just some cutesy way to indulge kids. They change how we think about infrastructure and connection citywide.
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“The more that people are present, the safer those places are, the more we know one another,” she said. “And there’s just so much interaction that’s lost when we are doing our daily commutes by car rather than walking our neighborhoods, biking our neighborhoods. It just opens the door for us to just know one another.”
Shannon challenged the perception that Lawrence is a bikeable town. She said her elementary-age son is a strong bicyclist, but she’s not comfortable with him cruising around Massachusetts Street.
“That’s our main area, and so then if it’s not actually accessible by bicycle, the question comes up: how accessible is the town, and how much of it is just kind of like perception or small pieces that check boxes?” she asked.
Shannon referenced the ongoing conversations about parking and traffic downtown, saying “those are greatly reduced when people truly can commute by bicycle.”
Carter said the more people ride their bikes, the more drivers pay attention.
“I think when you see a horde of kids on bikes, you know, it just changes it,” she said. “It’s like a very visible thing in the streets, and so drivers do change their behavior instead of just seeing a single cyclist or an adult in spandex.”
Schools throughout Lawrence have designated Safe Routes to School zones for kids. Cordley’s is around 19th and Vermont Streets, but Carter said that not all students come from that direction. Data from the health department and MPO also shows that the number one barrier for kids walking or biking to Cordley is the speed and volume of traffic on school routes.
“We really want to … help create a culture where building safe zones to get to school for all kids is just kind of the default with the city,” she said.
Cordley’s principal and the MPO have backed the grant, according to Carter, and other schools are starting to reach out with questions. The coalition only has capacity to lead a ride at one school, but Carter hopes it will be an incubator for similar programs.
Getting the gears in place
The coalition is ironing out the fine details as they see how many kids want to join, but organizers know they want the bike bus to be as low-barrier as possible.
“I see this as … to alleviate caregiving, because we are giving kids an alternative to getting to school without their parents having to take them,” Carter said.
Although they won’t be able to use the grant to provide kids with bikes, she has a few avenues to get them donated. They’ll also give kids bike repair vouchers to use at local shops. The grant will also go to supplies like bike locks and, potentially, infrastructure at the school, such as a bike repair station.
Carter said they’re still waiting to find out the total award amount, but she requested a minimum of $21,000 in the application.
Carter figures they’ll run three routes every Friday morning to catch students throughout Cordley’s broad catchment zone. They’re not currently planning a Friday afternoon ride because there are three different exit times for students based on after-care and other activities.
Each morning route will have at least two ride leaders who will get training and a stipend. Carter said community members can reach out to be a leader, or to volunteer after the slots are filled.
She referenced a bike bus in Kansas City, Missouri that goes past a retirement community that cheers the kids on.
“The hope is to connect with the community, too, in different ways along the way,” Carter said.
Potential volunteers, parents or interested kids can reach out at [email protected].
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at [email protected].
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