Bicycle Education Enhancement Program (BEEP)

Serving middle and high school students in the greater Philadelphia area, this school-based intervention aimed to help students learn to become bicyclists. Bicycling is an effective method of transportation, especially for inner-city and lower-income students. BEEP represents a partnership between the Philadelphia School District, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Department of Streets.

The program approach was three-fold: 1) install bike racks, distribute safety fliers, helmets and locks, 2) develop bicycle education program concurrent with the existing physical education program, and 3) help establish afterschool biking clubs. The hope was to encourage the children to develop an interest in bicycling for their transportation needs as well as promoting health, now and into the future.

The goal of the program is to provide middle and high school students in the greater Philadelphia are with education and tools to become life-long cyclists.

In the program schools, 150,000 of the students were responsible for providing their own transportation to school. BEEP helped such students become mobile and self-sufficient, enabling them to get to school on their own as well as commute to part-time jobs that may have been out of reach previously. In addition, BEEP helped students learn about personal and traffic safety.

One middle school received a mini-grant and raised additional funding, providing bicycles, locks and safety flags for participants.