Volunteers Needed for Bicycle Train Research Project

Cascade is partnering with Children’s Hospital on an exciting Bicycle Train research project to assess the health benefits of bicycling to school. This study has the potential to help Cascade and other organizations doing Safe Routes to School work by providing some solid data on the health benefits of bicycling to school. 

Bicycle Trains are organized groups of youth with adult volunteers who ride to school as a group, similar to a Walking School Bus in which kids walk to school together.

Youth bicyclist volunteers (ages 9-12) are needed to complete a three-hour project doing activities such as walking, jogging and cycling while wearing an activity meter, a GPS and a heart rate monitor. Researchers will also measure the child’s height and weight and have the parent take a short demographic survey. These activities are part of the testing phase of the project where the researchers will calibrate their equipment for the study.

Then from February to April, researchers will work with four schools, two of which will have organized bike trains, to assess the health benefits of bicycling to school. Dr. Jason Mendoza, a researcher at Seattle Children’s Research Institute Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development has been funded to do this pioneering study on measuring physical activity in children who bike to and from school.

Cascade’s Education Department and Major Taylor Project will provide safety training for the students.

If your child is interested in volunteering to participate in the initial phase of the study and help test equipment, or if you have additional questions, please contact Doris Uscanga, 206-884-8265 or doris.uscanga@seattlechildrens.org.