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Vélobus

Old 07-02-22, 05:15 AM
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Vélobus

A couple of years ago i've met Rida by coincidence while i was repairing a flat tire.
A school teacher in Mâcon, France, he was visiting Tunis and invited me to a conférence he was going to hold about an initiative to teach children bike commuting from a very young age : Vélobus.
The idea is simple : instead of a classic bus line, a couple of teachers create a "vélobus" line by following an intinerary joining fixed rallying points, letting the kid join the hoard, creating thus a caterpillar-like bus.
The kids love it, it's much more fun ! check out their comments:

This is from the news:


This video was made by Rida:


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Old 07-02-22, 07:22 AM
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Nice. Although I would like to see mirrors on the bikes or helmets.
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Old 07-03-22, 04:23 PM
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Originally Posted by BobbyG
Nice. Although I would like to see mirrors on the bikes or helmets.
The kids are wearing helmets, but i'm not sure mirrors are essential: Adults are already escorting them from all sides.
This initiative is tried in other towns in France, this time in Plougastel, Brittany :

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Old 07-03-22, 04:39 PM
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holytrousers I'm not gonna say you are wrong. I'm just thinking back to my experiences riding in traffic as a kid versus commuting for 28 years as an adult. I think the mirrors would give them the idea that they are part of a traffic peloton in which their movements affect others, and others movements affect them.

When I was a kid in Chicago in the sixties and seventies I never saw any cyclists with mirrors. And I think about the way my friends and I would weave in-and-out of traffic without a care in the world.

Not to sound like an old fart but It's never too early to teach good traffic manners and good citizenship... and mirrors and circumspection are the building blocks of both.

Nope I guess I do sound like an old fart...but that's how I feel.

In any case, it's a good program program, and it gets kids out and active.

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Old 07-03-22, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by BobbyG
I'm not gonna say you are wrong. I'm just thinking back to my experiences riding in traffic as a kid versus commuting for 28 years as an adult. I think the mirrors would give them the idea that they are part of a traffic peloton in which their movements affect others, and others movements affect them.

When I was a kid in Chicago in the sixties and seventies I never saw any cyclists with mirrors. And I think about the way my friends and I would weave in-and-out of traffic without a care in the world.

Not to sound like an old fart but It's never too early to teach good traffic manners and good citizenship... and mirrors and circumspection are the building blocks of both.

Nope I guess I do sound like an old fart...but that's how I feel.
No on the contrary, your idea is very interesting !
Thank you for caring to lay it out
Maybe the teachers explaining the importance of being cautious and always scanning the surroundings can have the same pedagogical effects?

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Old 08-07-22, 12:51 PM
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It's heartwarming to see this. Thanks for posting.
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Old 08-07-22, 01:33 PM
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Originally Posted by holytrousers
The kids are wearing helmets, but i'm not sure mirrors are essential: Adults are already escorting them from all sides.
This initiative is tried in other towns in France, this time in Plougastel, Brittany :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUK_fAdhFHs
I'm not sure I understand what's going on here, but I hope kids get a chance to take off on their bike with another kid or two and do their own thing instead of being plastered into cocoons and surrounded by hovering safety nannies.

ET. Goonies. That's how we roll.
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