Why it matters when kids ride bikes

How seeing cities from a child's-eye view transforms the way we move.

If you grew up riding a bicycle, you probably have some pretty great memories of that time in your life. From the earliest, wobbliest rides without your training wheels to setting off for school or to meet friends, bikes give us an early and intoxicating taste of independence. Although we’d love it to be the case, this experience is not universal. Not everyone learns to ride a bike when they’re young, and not everyone who learns has an environment in which to do so while feeling safe.

We’re all naturally concerned about our own safety, and this is compounded when it comes to parents. They have the wellbeing of their kids at the front of mind, after all.

It would be fair to say that cities around the world are getting better at making space for cyclists, including children. Not every city, and not all at the same rate, but change is happening.

Paris is widely acknowledged as being among the most successful in recent times: its Plan Vélo has seen €250 million invested into new bike lanes since its launch in 2021. Bike use has skyrocketed as a result, with some neighbourhoods seeing the bike overtake the car as the most popular means of transportation.

It won’t surprise you to learn, then, that Paris topped the list of cycling-friendly cities for kids in 2025. It overtook Amsterdam and Copenhagen to take the top spot in a ranking published last year

Three reasons to love… cycling for children and young people

More than just a way to get around, cycling has big upsides for younger people, which is all the more reason to support initiatives that get them on their bikes.

Cycling improves health among kids: As adults we’re often advised to take more exercise, particularly if we work at a desk most of the time. But the health benefits are huge for kids too. A study conducted in China found that biking to school positively affects both subjective and physical health. Those students who rode to school were associated with a higher self-rated health status, a healthier weight, a lower level of mental stress, and a lower risk of developing brain diseases.

Riding to school helps form lifelong habits: Active commuting is a catchall term that covers things like walking, cycling, scooting and skateboarding. A study in the USA found that young people who took up active commuting as teens were seven times more likely to still be doing so in later life. The expression ‘catch them while they’re young’ really does hold true!

Parents have a (big) part to play: Research from a British university uncovered something interesting… children’s cycling frequency is strongly influenced by their parents’ cycling behaviour. That means you can preach the virtues of bicycling as much as you like as a parent, but your kids will be far more motivated if they see you walking the walk (or should that be ‘pedalling the pedal’?)

How to improve our city streets for kids to ride bikes

If we want the benefits of cycling for kids and young people, how do we go about making that a reality in cities that aren’t quite as far along as Paris or Amsterdam?

There are several projects and initiatives that have consistently shown a positive impact.

School Streets: temporarily closing streets adjacent to schools during drop-off and pick-up times, creating safer, nicer environments for pedestrians and children who bike to school. School streets improve road safety and encourage walking and cycling as an alternative to the car. A 2021 survey by Walk Wheel Cycle Trust [a UK-based charity, formerly called ‘Sustrans’] found that 51% of residents agreed school street closures would improve their local area, compared to just 20% who disagreed.

Physically separated cycle lanes: studies have shown that kids feel more confident riding their bikes if they can use cycle lanes that are fully blocked off from motor traffic. That means physical infrastructure, not just paint on roads. Helsinki and Paris top the charts for this, with segregated cycle lines equivalent to 48% the length of their road networks.

Urban speed limits: capping speed limits to 30km/h is another effective way of making a city more suitable for cyclists. It applies to adults and kids alike, but disproportionately improves outcomes for kids.

And what can you do to speed up change?

As much as we might all love the idea of dropping into the boulangerie and grabbing a fresh croissant every morning, not everybody lives in Paris! Many cities are making positive steps, but there’s plenty of ground still to cover. It can be discouraging as a parent who wants to support their child to ride bikes when the infrastructure simply isn’t there yet…

One way of pushing for change is to join a Kidical Mass ride in your city.

The guiding belief of Kidical Mass is simple: that children and young people should be able to move around safely and independently on foot and by bike. Hard to argue with that, isn’t it?

The first Kidical Mass event was organised in Oregon, USA, but it has since spread around the world with more than 200 locations – and not just in North America.

It was inspired by the famous Critical Mass movement, which sees hundreds of adult cyclists take over cities to raise awareness of cycling-related issues and to campaign for better infrastructure. The difference? You guessed it, most of the participants in Kidical Mass are kids… with adults there to marshal the ride and keep everyone safe.

Unlike Critical Mass which can be anarchic, the Kidical version travels along a route planned in advance – Kidical Mass rides are also much shorter, typically between two and four miles (three to six kilometres). Kidical Mass rides will usually have smaller tributary rides, which all join the main route at different points.

The effect is a fun, safe procession with a party vibe, where young people and families get to experience the joy of riding bikes through their home city. By being seen out about in the city, the events demonstrate the demand is there for more and safer cycling streets for kids and adults. Cities around the world have responded to Kidical Mass events in positive, constructive ways, building new segregated bike lanes, introducing speed limits and setting up new school streets.

You can search for Kidical Mass events in your city on their website. If one doesn’t exist yet, could you be the one to set it up?

kidsonbike.org/