When Britton Zoggs and her husband Arthur moved to the Broadmor neighborhood in south Tempe, Arizona, they did so for their daughter. They wanted her to live close enough to bike to elementary school. What they didn’t expect is how that decision would change their lives by being reunited with the joy of bicycling. But that’s exactly what happened when their daughter joined the Broadmor Elementary School Bike Bus last year. Sponsored by the Tempe Bicycle Action Group and organized by a group of local parents, the bike bus shuttles about 20 kids from a handful of collection points along a busy road to Broadmor Elementary School. 

“We had stopped biking once we settled down, but we got bikes to be able to join our daughter on the bike bus. We had forgotten how much fun it is! Now, we ride all the time around the neighborhood and are healthier and just happier,” said Zoggs. As is obvious from the faces of the children as they bike to school, her daughter and her classmates love it. “She’s totally confident on her bike. She wakes up early, without an alarm, on bike bus days. She’s so excited.”

Connection is the common theme expressed by everyone on the bike bus. “By biking with kids to school, they get to observe the world around us, and be more connected to our neighborhood,” said Hannah Moulton Belec, one of the organizers of the ride. “Doing that by car, you’re sitting in that long line of traffic and — not to mention the cost and the emissions — you’re just not connected to your neighborhood. It’s an alienating way to travel through your neighborhood.”

Kendra Flory and Moulton Belec organized the ride in 2022 out of frustration with the slow pace of safety improvements on College Avenue, the busy street that leads to the elementary school. It was designated as a “bicycle boulevard” in Tempe’s General Plan, but speeds were high and there was no urgency to change that. “There was a sense that it was an impossible problem, and that it wasn’t as bad as it could be. There was no urgency,” said Moulton Belec. Thankfully, the Bike Bus changed that. 

“It was one of the only things we actually could do to prove there was a demand for the type of infrastructure we wanted to see on College Ave.,” she said. 

Since then, city officials have expedited improvements on College Avenue. There is a new pilot protected bike lane, traffic calming devices, and colorful pavement murals that slow drivers. More are in the works.

In 2023, PeopleForBikes’ Industry Community Grant Program awarded the Tempe Bicycle Action Group $5,600 to highlight the connection between children's safety and the infrastructure that results in slower speeds.

As a result of the bike bus and a push for more safe places to ride, the culture is changing in Tempe. The city manager now meets with the ride organizers and other bicycle advocates regularly to get their input on potential infrastructure grant applications. Kids are biking to school on days even without the bike bus.

“Anytime we’re around the best cycling communities, like Amsterdam, you can feel the positivity,” said Zoggs. “We want to live in communities that prioritize bike lanes, even if we’re not riding bikes. It’s one of the first things we look at because of what it says about the community.” 

Zoggs is optimistic about the future of Tempe and grateful for PeopleForBikes’ support. “It gives us hope that you came here to support the bike bus. It makes us thrilled about living here in Tempe.”