Palmetto Elementary Families Join Bike Bus World

Published on September 25, 2026

Palmetto Elementary students traded the bus for bikes again today, riding alongside their parents to class as part of the Palmetto Elementary School Bike Bus.

The Palmetto Bike Bus is modeled after the original bike bus started by Portland, Oregon PE teacher Sam Balto at his own school on Earth Day 2022.

What began as a way to get his students active quickly grew into a global movement, with Balto's rides - known for their music and his signature call-and-response chant, inspiring hundreds of bike buses worldwide.

Balto later co-founded Bike Bus World, an organization on a mission to transform the wellbeing of children, communities, and the climate through biking together to school, helping communities launch their own Bike Buses with tools, advocacy support, and funding assistance both locally and nationally.

It's a fitting reminder that Pinecrest is a safe bike village — and a tangible example of the Village's strategic priorities in motion: multi-modal transportation, pedestrian mobility, social connectivity, and public wellbeing.

The ride also advances Pinecrest's Vision Zero initiative, which commits the Village to achieving zero roadway fatalities by 2035. Vision Zero is a nationally recognized traffic safety framework built on the idea that no loss of life on our roads is acceptable. It takes a systemic approach - addressing safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and better post-crash care - rather than treating crashes as unavoidable.

Watch today's Palmetto Bike Bus ride

Watch the movement in action as pop star Benson Boon joins the movement.

Learn more at: Bike Bus World.