USA Cycling
Promoting cycling as a means of transportation and recreation.
Every Child Deserves A Bike
In May of 2022, Principal Jordan of PS 18 in the South Bronx, voiced her vision to provide access to cycling and cycling education while creating safe spaces for her students and the community she serves to ride their bikes openly and freely in and around their community.
It Takes A Community
Through a partnership with USA Cycling, Free Bikes For Kids (fb4kmaryland (Free Bikes For Kids))Bronx Health REACH, Street Lab, Up2Us, and Bike NY educational programming and maintenance teams and Major Taylor Iron Riders and Development Racing Team, PS 18 shut down the streets surrounding their school to give 300+ students access to cycling through a one of a kind BikeFest Field Day!
This event is a testimony to the impact we can have when partnerships between public and private sectors align.
Building Capacity
Through the NY State Department of Health's Creating Healthy Schools and Communities initiative, PS 18's Principal Anjelica Jordan, Assistant Principal, Mr. Z, and their community partner, United Community School/United Federation of Teachers, have been working with Bronx Health REACH and Equity Design, since Spring of 2022, to increase the school's capacity to sustain physical activity initiatives through partnerships.
Key Achievements
- Over 200+ hours of technical assistance and support
- Fostering partnerships between organizations
- On-site support for Physical Education Coach D
- Teacher team building and leadership brainstorming
What We Discovered
In planning with PS 18, Bronx Health REACH, Street Lab and Equity Design discovered that in order for us to increase physical activity engagement in cycling, increase joy in learning and decrease the disparities that exist in marginalized communities, there lies an intersectionality between:
Creating Sustainability Through Cycling
Sustainability is one of the guiding principles for Equity Design. To modify behaviors, affect long-term health outcomes, and lift the Bronx County from #62, the community needs sustained initiatives rather than one-time projects. This is one of the reasons the PS 18X Initiative is being incorporated into the school's Physical Education curriculum instead of operating as an after school or extracurricular activity.
By design, the PS 18X Initiative aims to create a repeatable and scalable model that addresses common challenges faced by urban and under-resourced communities:
Accessibility
PS 18 has 444 students and 68 bicycles (so far). Integrating bike safety and skills into the PE curriculum ensures that all students have access to bicycles consistently and frequently enough to become proficient and confident riders.
Safe Spaces to Ride
Access to safe places for children to ride bikes is a challenge in many urban environments. For the pilot program that consisted of three Saturday clinics, Equity Design worked with Street Lab, the community, Department of Transportation and NYPD Community Police to clean and clear streets of parked cars and close them to traffic. On an ongoing basis, the program will utilize outdoor and indoor facilities at the school.
Storage
In contrast to introductory cycling programs that aim to provide bikes, helmets, and locks to families in under-resourced communities, the PS 18X Initiative recognized many families lacked the space to securely store bicycles at home. Keeping the bicycles at the school also facilitates ongoing maintenance.
Continuity and Repeatability
Long term, Equity Design recognizes the initiative's sustainability and expansion depends on the ability to train educators to lead programs in their schools.
PS 18X Initiative: A repeatable and scalable model