LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Alisha Jones is taking her skills as a bike ride leader and taking kids to school.
"I just wanna give the joy of cycling away," she said.
It's part of Duck Duck Goose, a non-profit she's forming to teach parents—for free—so they can organize their own rides. The only requirement for her bus bike caravan is a bike and a helmet—and Jones can help provide those for families who need one.
"They just may need some help or just a party," she said, chuckling. "A fun party. A fun, loud party to get to school. Something positive to help them get through their day."
Come September, Lincoln Elementary is the group's first destination, but where they ride next depends on who signs up for the program. However, getting the signatures was the big issue for another alternative proposed by a current JCPS bus driver who wanted to start his own private route.
WHAS11 first reported on Charles "Chuck" Deel in May when he was launching the idea, originally with three routes, one for each start time. After a disagreement over pickup times with a subdivision, the concept fell apart without enough time until the beginning of school to shift towards another route.
"I did my part. I was ready to go. I had the mechanics ready, where I was gonna park my buses. The mechanics were gonna keep 'em up. Start 'em for me every morning. Just didn't work out," Deel said.
He explained that out of the 75 people interested in the route he was planning to a single school, only 22 signed his contract for service, falling short of the 50 students he needed for the route to self-sustain financially.
So while he stays driving for JCPS, Jones is taking the torch, treading new paths to the classroom.
"When they see us pull up, and we're listening to Kidz Bop, oh yeah. Oh yeah. Everybody's gonna wanna do this," she said.
Which is good for her, because she says when it comes to riding a bike there's safety in numbers. She hopes parents will decide to help out and volunteer—but says they must go through a background check first.
Anyone interested can reach Jones by email.
JCPS bus drivers begin driving their practice routes at the end of July. A TARC official told WHAS11 that 68 of 70 drivers from the transit authority began their onboarding at the school district on Monday.
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