The Bike Bus movement made its way from the streets to recent academic discussions. Two members of the city lab, Gemma Simón i Mas and Anna Sach, travelled this summer to London and Dublin to present research on the Bike Bus at two international interdisciplinary conferences. We gave an overview about the movement worldwide and discussed how cycling initiatives like the Bicibús can contribute towards more sustainable and just cities.
We had the chance to participate at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers from August 29 to September 1. We presented in the Current and Emerging Research on Transport session. Gemma spoke about her results from the survey about the global Bike Bus movement (see here). Anna shared her analysis of the Bicibús initiatives in Barcelona through a justice lens. Beside connecting with other mobility scholars, we also met with the Geographies of Children Youth & Families Research Group. After the four intense days, the Active Travel Academy from the University of Westminster organised a post-conference bike ride through Northern London. With other active mobility researchers, we visited the low-traffic neighbourhoods and spoke about the infrastructure changes in the area.
From London we travelled by train and ferry to Dublin. We attended the Cycling and Society Symposium 2023 from September 7 to 8, in which we discussed our research in the Solidarities Panel. Gemma also gave a short presentation for the Gender debate, sharing her preliminary findings on the Gender Gap in cycling. On Friday morning we joined the D12 Bike Bus in South Dublin and spoke to parents and organisers. It was interesting to see the similarities, but also the special local character of each bike bus initiative.
