11 / The bike bus, active transportation, & empowering kids / with Coach Sam Balto

Coach Sam Balto — a physical education teacher, active transportation catalyst, and Portland bike bus leader — is in good traffic to open up on sustainable and healthy transportation options for children, disrupting the school car line, and what it all means for the collective movement of our cities.

We discuss:

• 00:01 Coach Sam Balto is in good traffic, and he’s driving the bike bus.


• 02:08 What is the bike bus? On the concept and origins in Portland, Oregon, and beyond.


• 04:02 The impact of bike buses and active transportation on the physical and mental health of our youth.


• 05:00 Parental involvement and feedback in the urbanist movement.


• 10:57 The role of social infrastructure in our cities.


• 18:53 The future of scaling bike buses in U.S. cities.


• 27:05 Teacher’s potential role in the urbanism equation, and what happens when we give kids the tools they need.


• 39:56 Reflections from a recent visit to walkable college town Tempe, Arizona.


• 45:05 How to connect with Coach Balto.

Further context:

• A Balto-led Portland bike bus in action.


• bikebus.world


• On the bike bus inspiring legislature.


• On the worldwide bike bus momentum.

Connecting with Sam:

• On TikTok.


• On Instagram.

Connecting with me, Brad:

• ⁠⁠⁠On Instagram.⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠On TikTok⁠⁠.⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠On LinkedIn⁠⁠.