Cycling classes coming to Victoria, South Coast schools

Students in grades 4 and 5 will learn biking skills and safety awareness at participating schools in Greater Victoria and along the South Coast as the fall session of Everyone Rides Grades 4-5 gets underway.

"By enabling people to cycle instead of drive, we can collectively prevent thousands of kilograms of carbon dioxide from entering our atmosphere every year," said Bowinn Ma, Minister of State for Transportation and Infrastructure. "Cycling is a great year-round activity that allows people to fit more activity into their lives. Everyone Rides Grade 4-5 helps students develop important bike skills and will encourage them to become active travellers."

Students will take part in two sessions at school. The first is a 45-to-60-minute in-class or online introduction to cycling skills and helmet safety. The second provides 75 to 90 minutes of hands-on practice with practical skills, including stopping, turning, hand signals, road sign awareness and traffic safety.

About 2,700 students from 27 schools across Greater Victoria, Metro Vancouver, Squamish and the Sunshine Coast are expected to participate in the program. Bikes and helmets are provided, including adaptive options for children with disabilities, so that all students can take part.

"An active lifestyle and active mind go hand-in-hand," said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Education. "We encourage all students, families and staff to make active transportation, including cycling, part of their school commute."

Everyone Rides Grades 4-5 is a program developed and delivered by HUB Cycling, a not-for-profit organization with more than 20 years of experience helping to remove barriers to cycling and promoting the health, environmental and economic benefits of cycling through education and training. The first two years of the program reached 9,235 students through a combination of online, in-class and on-bike learning.

"HUB Cycling is excited to provide even more British Columbia elementary students with skills, confidence and the opportunity to learn to ride their bikes to and from school," said Rose Gardner, HUB Cycling director of bike education. "This third season of the Everyone Rides Grade 4-5 program helps achieve goals related to Vision Zero, climate action, active transportation and healthy communities."

The program follows a strict COVID-19 Safety Plan, including training, group size, space and physical distancing to keep students and instructors safe and healthy.

Government invested $600,000 in the 2020 and 2021 Everyone Rides Grade 4-5 program.

Move. Commute. Connect. is a comprehensive plan to make local transportation safer, greener and more accessible for all British Columbians, with the central goal of doubling the percentage of the trips taken with active transportation by 2030.

Learn More:

HUB Cycling: https://bikehub.ca/education/bike-to-school/everyone-rides-grade-4-5

Move.Commute.Connect: https://cleanbc.gov.bc.ca/active/

CleanBC: https://cleanbc.gov.bc.ca/

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