Bicycle Safety for Cambridge Youth

Committee: Streetsmarts

Cost: $95,000

Location: Citywide

Short Description: Access to bicycle safety equipment for youth will enable more people to enjoy this healthy activity. It will also relieve some of the stress on public transportation, while decreasing the city’s carbon and toxic gas emissions.

Long Description:
The number of bicyclists riding through Cambridge has increased dramatically, and continues to rise. As the number of riders increase, many riders are using bicycles for many, if not all, their everyday activities and chores - giving children rides to school, grocery shopping, commuting to work.

This project will expand Cambridge’s outreach to young people riding bicycles around our neighborhoods, and help these vulnerable road users access helmets, bells, lights, vests, and locks. Reaching and educating young people about bicycling is critical to influencing the city’s bicycling culture and promoting safety.

This project will impact three programs in Cambridge that help youth:

Cycle Kids (500 kids):

• Cycle Kids provides bike education program for 4th and 5th graders.
• Participatory Budgeting will fund 500 helmets for this program.

Safe Routes to School (500 kids):

• Safe Routes to School (SRTS) aims to increase the number of students who get to and from school by walking or biking.
• This project will give every 6th grader in SRTS a helmet, bell, light, and U-lock.

Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program (1,000 kids):

• This project will provide helmets, lights, bells, and vests to all Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program (MSYEP) employees.
• This would be paired with bicycle education workshops for all MSYEP employees.