Kelowna mom’s ‘bike bus’ more than a fun way to get kids to school

Kelowna’s Karli Sanderson couldn’t help but turn a fun, quick idea into a vision for something grander.

Sanderson decided to start a bike bus for kids in Rutland heading to Spring Valley Elementary. She rides her bike through the neighbourhood with her two kids, and picks up others along the way to ride in a big group to and from school.

“I’m kind of filling a space to allow kids to have this opportunity while giving parents the peace of mind and kind of alleviating that stress off of them. And it’s just really soul fulfilling and making me feel good,” she told iNFOnews.ca.

So far, there’s just a few kids riding with Sanderson since she just started, but she made a post on social media that has gained some traction. Her DMs have blown up.

“I’ve got so many parents being like, ‘we live on this street. Are you able to come this way? Can you fit us into here? Where do we meet you?’” Sanderson said.

With a background working for non-profits, Sanderson has quickly thought of ways to grow the bike bus into something that helps the community in more ways than safe oversight for kids riding to and from school.

“My dream, which hopefully I can make happen sooner rather than later, is I would love to start a GoFundMe to raise money for bikes and helmets for those families that can’t afford it,” she said.

If the bike bus grows she said it would be a great way to get high schoolers involved because they need volunteer hours.

Sanderson also wants to create opportunities to help teach kids about biking safely so they have the confidence to commute on bikes when they grow up.

She’d love to see other parents at other schools copy her idea.

“You have no idea how much that would warm my heart and build my soul,” she said.

Bike buses are a global phenomenon with more than 100 registered around the world, but Sanderson said she was inspired by videos on social media.

“I stumbled across an Instagram account that does a bike bus down in the United States. He’s gotten so popular that he’s had all of these other really influential, famous people that have come and biked the bike bus with him in the morning. But I mean, this guy has 50 plus kids that join his bike bus,” she said.

The goal is to grow the bike bus, and she said any kid who can ride confidently is welcome to ride along in the bike bus for morning drop offs and pickups in the afternoon.

“My daughter, who’s six, she’s in kindergarten and her little best friend that comes with us is also in kindergarten. I’m happy to go all the way up to grade six as long as they’re not too cool for it,” she said.

She decided to start the bike bus after she was laid off from her job and wanted to keep doing something.

“That has left me with some spare time. And children and my community have always been at the forefront of my mind,” she said.

“I would just like to utilize my free time and give that back and hopefully give these core memories to these kids that will resonate with them and then carry forward in life.”