A Summer Camp Smart Commute Challenge
I’m fortunate to have a neighborhood school just down the road. During the school year, we pedal our way to the elementary school nearly every day, and it’s a great start to my short bike commute to work. This summer, we’re upping the ante with a pledge to cycle or take a bus to each summer camp at least once.
Transportation Considerations for Summer Camps
While I’ve come across many posts, shared spreadsheets, and Social Media threads about summer camps in Durham, none seem to focus on transportation. While I wouldn’t choose a camp based solely on bike-ability, I understand that some parents face real constraints, such as bus routes, work schedules, lack of car access, and financial considerations.
My pledge will include the following camps: Schoolhouse of Wonder at West Point on the Eno, Duke Faculty Club, Camp Riverlea’s bus pickup spot, Museum of Life and Science, and Triangle Day School.
Motivation: Document Obstacles Tethering People to Their Cars
Every Wednesday during the school year, a few parents and I lead a group ride to school we affectionately call the BikeTrain. Inspired by the Alameda BikeBus of @CoachBalto, our version is a short ride on safe neighborhood streets from Oval Park to the EK Powe Elementary school.
On school year evenings, commutes for activities are a mixed bag. While we have groceries, restaurants, and piano lessons a stone’s throw away, karate and soccer practice are a different story, with distance and dangerous roads as the main obstacles.
During the school year, I don’t use my car a lot, but summer presents more transportation needs. Our summer solution has mostly been carpooling and sharing the driving load with other families, but this involves a lot of coordination, scheduling, and logistics. This summer I want to document some routes for those interested in car-free options. I’ll attempt to bike or bus in the spirit of BikeTrain every Wednesday!
Join the Journey
I’m on the lookout for fellow parents willing to switch up their commute. Walk, bike, or carpool to summer camp even once and share your experience! Write about it, capture it in photos, or record some video clips. Can you cover any other camps? We’d love to hear about it in the comments. Let’s change gears on the summer camp commute and skip the drop-off queue!
Great idea! Tbh this is one of my biggest gripes about summer camps. I’ve looked at buses too but unless you’ve got an hour and a half anything outside of downtown you can forget about. My favorites are museum of Life and science and Duke Gardens. Easy to get to from this neck of the woods. I didn’t know about a bus pick up for camp Riverlea, west point on the eno should do that too. It could save many single car trips.