On a recent field trip to a lighthouse in a state park in South Portland, Maine, six preschoolers piled into a bright yellow cargo bike instead of a van or bus. The school is one of the first to use the bike, which was designed to help daycares and small schools—or large families—cut emissions, introduce toddlers to biking, and make it easier to take short trips.
Made by Texas-based Bunch Bikes, the cargo bike was inspired by a similar vehicle the designers saw on a trip to Sweden. “I thought, how cool would it be if we could have something like this in our country, and preschools that can’t afford a van or don’t want to deal with regulations of a van could bike kids around?” says founder Aaron Powell. (The company also makes a similarly adorable cargo bike for dogs.) The bike is fairly expensive, at $3,495, though a van can cost 10 times more. It has a powerful electric motor—so it isn’t work for the teacher riding it—and has safety harnesses to hold children in place. Powell hopes that it will help children embrace cycling young. “It’s impressing on them that this is an active lifestyle,” he says. “And they grow up saying, okay, riding a bike is normal.”