HUBBUB ★ WINNER – PEOPLE’S CHOICE

According to Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan, 39% of Vancouver’s total carbon pollution is created by road transportation. Barriers to active transportation in BC include a lack of safety and accessibility to bike paths, weather, and the cost of equipment. It also finds only 5% of school commutes are on bike. Our youth-led project reduces barriers to biking and promotes biking culture in order to increase bike ridership and contribute to greener city transportation. First, we propose that high school students help the city re-evaluate the safety and comfort of existing bike routes to create protected bike lanes. Our research shows that improving the safety and accessibility of biking infrastructure is key to increasing bike ridership rates. Second, we propose a Bike Hub that would be a student-run resource center at participating schools. It will provide free and accessible equipment to students, a bike sharing program for the school, and riding and safety equipment. The Bike Hub will host annual events and workshops for students, and our team would help to advocate for increased bike storage at the schools. Third, we propose a community engagement component to make this large issue more approachable and encourage students to ride. There will be a riding rewards system that tracks riding distance, and Vancouver-based sustainable businesses will be partners, providing prizes. Workshops will connect novice riders with experienced riders to further the educational aspect and build rider confidence. This project provides an opportunity to advance equity and make climate actions work for everyone by including youth who are not yet financially or legally independent. We expect this project to increase youth access to cycling resources and increase school ridership. In the long term, we hope that cycling habits developed by students at a young age will be carried into their adult lives.