Advocacy

At the 2026 NC BikeWalk Transportation Summit, Kevina Casaletto, Bethanie Johnson, and Erik J. Landfried,came together to discuss the growing popularity of bike buses and how communities across North Carolina are helping more children experience the joy of biking to school.

Bike buses bring students together to ride to school along a planned route, often accompanied by adults who help make the journey safer and more enjoyable. Beyond providing an alternative way to get to school, they offer an opportunity for kids to build confidence on their bikes, connect with classmates, and make physical activity part of their routine.

During this session, organizers shared their experiences starting and maintaining bike buses, including the rewards, challenges, and lessons they’ve learned along the way. They also offered practical tips for people interested in bringing a bike bus to their own communities.

Starting a bike bus doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take planning, community support, and people willing to get things rolling. By sharing their experiences, these organizers demonstrate how local initiatives can encourage more families to consider biking and help build a stronger culture of active transportation.

Whether you’re a parent, educator, transportation advocate, or community member interested in helping more children walk and bike to school, this session offers inspiration and practical ideas to get started.

Communities across North Carolina are finding creative ways to make walking, biking, and rolling safer, more accessible, and more inclusive. At the 2026 NC BikeWalk Transportation Summit, this session brought together five success stories highlighting the people, partnerships, and programs making a difference across the state.

From coastal greenway development to youth cycling programs, campus bicycle services, traffic safety education, and impaired driving prevention, these presentations showcased the many ways local efforts can create lasting change.

Laura Beckum, State Programs Manager with MADD North Carolina, shared highlights from the organization’s prevention and education efforts. Her presentation explored how school-based programs, community partnerships, and volunteer engagement help educate individuals, encourage safer choices, and strengthen traffic safety efforts across the state.

Saundra Lewis of CLT Bike Camp Melanin in Motion shared how a community-led effort launched in 2021 has grown into a program serving youth throughout Charlotte. Created to introduce more Black and Brown girls to cycling, Melanin in Motion provides bicycles, helmets, instruction, mentorship, and outdoor experiences while fostering confidence, leadership, healthy lifestyles, and sisterhood.

Ellen M. Walston, MSW, ACSW, LCSW, highlighted the development of the Winterville Traffic Garden, a permanent bicycle and pedestrian safety education space made possible through an AARP grant and local partnerships. BikeWalkNC worked with the Town of Winterville, Safe Kids Pitt County, the Pitt County Community Schools & Recreation Program, and community advocates to help bring the project to life. Today, organized activities at the garden give children and families opportunities to learn traffic rules and practice safe walking and biking skills.

Spencer Shawn of the Hawk Wheels Support Office at UNC Wilmington discussed how a campus bicycle shop is evolving into a broader effort to support transportation independence and bicycle stewardship. Through repair services, registration, bicycle parking management, and community partnerships, the program is helping build a campus culture that supports a range of transportation choices.

Andrew Meeker of the East Coast Greenway Alliance shared the work underway to develop a four-mile greenway connecting the existing Carolina Beach Island Greenway through Kure Beach to the Fort Fisher Ferry Terminal. Building on a 2024 feasibility study, the project demonstrates how a small coastal town can work with regional partners and multiple levels of government to navigate the challenges of greenway planning and expand access to safe, accessible trails.

Together, these stories demonstrate that progress in transportation safety takes many forms.

How can communities use data, planning, and federal funding to make meaningful progress toward eliminating roadway deaths and serious injuries?

At the 2026 NC BikeWalk Transportation Summit, Erik J. Landfried, AICP, Planning Associate with Alta Planning + Design; Lydia M. McIntyre, P.E., MPA; Carter Spradling; and Nathan Smiley, MURP, AICP came together to discuss how communities across North Carolina are using Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) funding and the Safe System approach to plan for safer transportation networks.

Across the state, agencies have developed data-driven Safety Action Plans to better understand where serious crashes are occurring, identify contributing factors, and guide future investments. But communities are not all starting from the same place or facing the same transportation challenges.

This panel brought together perspectives from three different geographic contexts, including cities, metropolitan areas, and largely rural regions, offering a look at how Safety Action Plans can be tailored to local needs while working toward the shared goal of reducing roadway deaths and serious injuries.

The discussion placed particular emphasis on vulnerable road users, including people walking, biking, rolling, and using transit. Panelists shared how their communities are using planning and data to identify opportunities for safety improvements and how those plans can help shape future projects and investments.

For communities working to move from identifying safety problems to implementing solutions, Safety Action Plans can provide an important roadmap. This conversation offers a look at how North Carolina communities are approaching that work and what it can mean for the future of roadway safety.

What does it take to make it safer and easier for kids to walk, bike, and roll to school and around their communities?

At the 2026 NC BikeWalk Transportation Summit, Dr. Kat Dale of Winterville Safe Routes to School and Oaks & Spokes, Tiffany L. Hooker, Police Officer III with Greensboro Police Department, Desiree Squire of Bike Durham, and Jennifer Delcourt, MPH, with NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division, came together for a panel discussion focused on how collaboration can help create safer communities for students.

The panel explored how schools, transportation advocates, municipalities, and law enforcement can work together to provide meaningful bike and transportation safety education. Panelists shared real-world experiences and strategies for reaching young people through Safe Routes to School programs, community and municipal partnerships, and extracurricular youth engagement.

The conversation also looked at how transportation safety education can extend beyond a single classroom or program. By connecting schools with community partners and creating more opportunities for students to learn, practice, and experience walking and biking, communities can help make active transportation a more accessible part of everyday life.

From Safe Routes to School initiatives to creative youth programming and partnerships with local agencies, the panel highlighted the many ways communities across North Carolina can encourage more kids to walk and roll while keeping safety at the center of the conversation.

The discussion offers practical ideas for educators, advocates, municipalities, law enforcement, and others interested in strengthening transportation safety education and creating communities where young people have more opportunities to get around safely and independently.

How do rumble strips fit into the broader effort to make North Carolina roads safer for everyone who uses them?

At the 2026 NC BikeWalk Transportation Summit, we were joined by Shawn A. Troy, PE, Deputy State Traffic Engineer for Safety with NCDOT’s Division of Mobility and Safety, and State Traffic Engineer Brian Murphy, PE, for a discussion focused on one of the more familiar safety features found on North Carolina roads: rumble strips.

The session provides an overview of what rumble strips are, how they are used, and the safety benefits they are intended to provide. But it also looks beyond the basics to examine how rumble strip projects fit into NCDOT’s current safety priorities and where they may be most effectively applied.

The conversation explores the considerations that go into installing rumble strips, including how roadway conditions, project priorities, and the needs of different road users factor into those decisions. For people who walk, bike, drive, or otherwise travel on North Carolina roads, these decisions can have a meaningful impact on how our transportation system functions and how safety improvements are implemented.

The session offers a behind-the-scenes look at how one type of roadway safety treatment fits into the larger picture of transportation safety in North Carolina, and provides an opportunity to better understand the priorities and considerations that shape these projects.