Delivering young children to school by bike

Preschools and day care providers a short distance from Richmond Street.

By Steve Price

There are important bicycling destinations for travel on Richmond Street that the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project consultants haven’t highlighted in their justifications for conversion of some parking to bike lanes north of Moeser. Last week I visited two bike shops that specialize in bicycles used not for recreation, but rather for transportation: Rad Power Bikes and Blue Heron Bikes, both in Berkeley. I asked staff how well electric cargo bikes were selling. These are bikes used for local utilitarian travel, not for 50-mile recreation rides. Staff in both stores said that e-cargo bikes were selling well and in increasing numbers and were especially popular with young families. This is confirmed by what I see in our area, especially in the last 2 years: lots of cargo bikes with young parents riding their kids on the bikes to and from daycare and preschool.

A search for “preschool” and “daycare” on Google Maps reveals many; seven of these facilities are within two short blocks from Richmond Street north of Moeser. Bike lanes on Richmond Street would definitely be utilized by these parents. (See the attached map with the preschools and daycare facilities circled in orange.)

Pickup at Little Lamb Preschool on Kearney Street

In my discussions with people who live on Richmond Street I have spoken with several families with children who support bike lanes. It is unfortunate that recent community discussions about the future of Richmond Street seem to pit the wants of seniors who are opposed to losing on-street parking against the needs of young families with children. I applaud the city and CSWST2’s efforts to come up with a street design that has bike lanes yet retains parking to the extent possible.