In NYC at the 10th anniversary Vision Zero Cities Conference, hosted by Transportation Alternatives, one of the sessions was an outdoor bike excursion where bike bus organizers Sam Balto, Megan Ramey and Emily Stutts inspired attendees with anecdotes and advice with their individual tales on how they got started on their bike bus rides.
And actually all three of their origin stories are intertwined. Megan started her Bike Bus on October 2020 during the midst of the Covid outbreak in Hood River. Along with Barcelona's mega popular Bici Bus, Sam cites her rides as his inspiration for first trying his out in Portland on Earth Day 2022, which has now become an internet sensation with millions of views on his video clips. And Emily saw Megan on John Simmerman's Active Towns KZfaq podcast ( • This mom is leading th... ) which motivated her to try out a ride down dense and hectic Brooklyn's Bergen Street.
Oh, and along the ride while interviewing Megan she gave unexpected credit to Streetfilms for introducing her to the concept via a 2010 video where I rode along with Portland's Beach Bike Train (see that film here: • Portland's Bike Boulev... ) which she said she "stole" to craft her first event.
You'll hear over and over from these three amazing individuals while we cruise through Brooklyn while they talk with conference attendees and navigate the streets.