For many of us, learning how to ride a bike was a rite of passage. Being able to ride to school, the store or even just down the block represented a new degree of freedom and personal mobility (it just so happened to also be very good exercise). Although many Americans still have this experience, others face considerable barriers to riding. As a result, the practice of biking to school has dramatically declined in recent years, and a significant number of kids simply never learn to ride at all. Luckily, there are a number of current programs, events and initiatives that aim to teach kids how to safely ride bikes and provide them with safe environments in which to do so — including a program in Camden, NJ that began this month.

Between 1969 and 2001, the percentage of school-aged students who walked or biked to school in the United States declined from 41% to just 13%. This decrease in “active transportation” as a way to get to school is strongly correlated to the sharp rise in childhood obesity—since 1970, the obesity rate for those 6 to 11 years of age quadrupled (from 4.2 to 17 percent). A great multitude of factors have likely contributed to this alarming statistic, but there is no doubt that increased physical activity through bike riding could help to reverse it.

Whether or not young people know how to ride, many lack safe places to do so, or are even barred from doing so by local schools. Others may lack knowledge of how to keep a bike in good working order or may not be able to afford to purchase or maintain a bike.

In Camden, New Jersey, a program facilitated by Rails-To-Trails, in partnership with Cooper’s Ferry Development Association and the Police Athletic League engages youths in the city to overcome many of the common barriers to bike riding. The CYCLE (Camden Young Cycling, Learning and Exercising) program, funded by the William Penn Foundation and Campbell’s Soup Foundation teaches students the necessary skills and confidence to ride bicycles, learn the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle, and become stewards of the Camden GreenWay. Upon completion of the 15-session program, all participants will receive a brand new bicycle, bike helmet and bike jersey, removing financial barriers to riding.

Throughout the weeks, the CYCLE group will learn about bike maintenance and how to ride safely on city streets and throughout the growing regional trail network. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for them to learn about healthy foods and active living by visiting the Camden Children’s Garden and local Greensgrow truck in Camden, as well as the Rittenhouse Farmer’s Market in Philadelphia. The group will also meet kids from a similar program across the river in Philadelphia facilitated by Neighborhood Bike Works, the goal being to promote regional connections and to give Camden youths the opportunity to meet others who are engaged in similar activities.

Elsewhere, the Safe Routes to School program is a federal, state and local effort that provides money for communities to make walking or riding a bike to school safer through physical infrastructure improvements, outreach, and education. Additionally, in New Jersey, the annual Stride and Ride event in Hudson County and the Learn to Bike classes hosted by the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance teach basic skills for those who have little or no experience riding. Across the Hudson, groups like Bike New York and Recycle-a-Bicycle teach riding and maintenance.

Programs like these show that riding a bike is not only great exercise, but can also be an effective mode of transportation in one’s everyday life. Combined with targeted infrastructure improvements to make walking and biking safer for all, these outreach and education efforts have the potential to improve transportation safety and public health and to bring increased mobility to people of a greater range of ages and income levels.