NEWBURYPORT — On Wednesday morning, just under 30 Francis T. Bresnahan Elementary School students jumped on their bicycles and headed to class together.
But the mass commute wasn’t a spontaneous underaged biker gang thing. Instead, students were joined by watchful adults and police officers as a part of Newburyport Livable Streets’ first-ever bike bus.
“We want to remind local children that bicycling is a viable, daily form of transportation,” Newburyport Livable Streets member Sheila Taintor said. “We’re just so happy that it went so well.”
A local nonprofit organization dedicated to making city streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians as well as motorists, Newburyport Livable Streets wanted to take advantage of national Bike & Roll to School Day on Wednesday to introduce their new bike bus, according to Taintor.
Functioning just like a bus route, the bike bus has local youngsters follow a set path on their bicycles and scooters, making stops where other students join them along the way.
The first group of 28 students began forming at Perkins Playground on Beacon Avenue before heading toward Bresnahan Elementary about 7:40 a.m., according to Taintor.
“It was really so exciting and so impressive,” she said. “I was one of the people bringing up the rear.”
The bike pool also had 29 parents and other adults tagging along to make sure everything went well.
Among the group was Newburyport police Lt. Gregory Whitney and his boss, City Marshal Matthew Simons, who rode their own bicycles.
“We would get ahead and hold traffic at major cross streets like High, State and Green streets,” Whitney said. “Then we would leapfrog each other.”
“It was just amazing,” Taintor added. “It was a great morning.”
Things got a little more interesting when the rolling rally got to the High Street driveway to Bresnahan Elementary.
With all the safety vest-wearing kids and adults involved, Whitney said the bike bus ended up looking like a giant duckling crossing.
“Yeah, it really did,” he laughed. “But it didn’t take that long to get them across the street. It really was a pretty cool event to be a part of. We were all talking about how much fun it was after.”
The group of just under 60 people took about three to four minutes to cross High Street, according to Taintor, who said the motorists who stopped for the bike convoy didn’t seem to mind the delay.
“It didn’t take too long but it probably felt long,” she said. “But the drivers were all smiles and waves. It was wonderful.”
When it was all said and done, the first bike bus took about a half hour, according to Taintor.
“It really wasn’t that long,” she said.
Beginning May 16, the bike bus will head for Bresnahan Elementary every Friday morning until the school year is over.
Just as it did on Wednesday, the trip will start each week at 7:40 a.m. at Perkins Playground, then head for Emma Andrews Library on Purchase Street. From there, the bike bus will head to Atwood Park on School Street, then City Hall on Pleasant Street, Cushing Park on Washington Street, the intersection of Jackson at Woodland streets, and then arrive at Bresnahan by 8:10 a.m.
Participants are asked to wear a helmet as well as bright, reflective clothing. Second-graders and under will need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian rider. But they will need to bike home with their kids or pick up their bicycles after school.
Whitney also said his department plans to have at least one police officer riding with the group each time.
With the first ride out of the way, Taintor said Newburyport Livable Streets hopes to expand the bike bus program to accommodate Rupert A. Nock Middle School and Edward G. Molin Upper Elementary School students.
Newburyport Livable Streets is also scheduled next month to roll out its three-year bike-share pilot program. That will give residents and visitors alike a chance to jump on one of 30 bicycles spread out over six stations across the city for $2 an hour.
Whitney said the nonprofit is a great partner to the city.
“They teach some of our kids how to ride bikes and be safer pedestrians,” he said.
Families wishing to take part in future bike buses, can give parent Tom Soare a call at 617-872-3993 or email him at twsoare@gmail.com, according to Taintor.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.