Child-sized bikes come to children, entirely free.
Image via Wikimedia
For most kids around the world, there comes an age when not knowing how to ride a bike becomes deeply socially unacceptable. But bikes, no matter what their speeds, are often expensive and out-of-reach for many youth in Brazil, 21 percent of whom live below the poverty line. A new program, known as Rollaway Bicycle, hopes to make a dent in the problem with a very simple solution: for one week, the program heads to low-income neighborhoods and lends out child-sized bikes, entirely for free.
Image via Flickr user Andre Gustavo
While some kids have access to adult-sized bikes, child bikes (replete with training wheels) are often hard-to-find, especially at affordable prices. Rollaway Bikes, modeled after New York’s Citibike program (but free) hopes to introduce cycling to a population where it’s often out-of-reach, but sorely needed. Unlike many cities of its size, the city of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil offers substantial public transportation. But with wait times for buses approaching 40 minutes, and vehicles without air conditioning, cycling is a fantastic, eco-friendly alternative. According to PSFK, Rollaway Bicycle hopes to bring that alternative to the people and neighborhoods that would benefit the most.
Rollaway Bicycle is just a temporary program, but there others like it in the works. Learn more about the program by checking out their video here.