Bikes abandoned on GRT buses find new life with newcomers, refugees
Roughly 100 bikes are abandoned on buses, at bus shelters each year
Bicycles are left on buses or at bus shelters a lot more often than you might think, but rather than throw them away, these bikes are getting cycled back into the community.
Each year roughly 100 bikes end up at Grand River Transit's (GRT) Strasburg Road facility in Kitchener, Ont., and they are donated to a number of local groups who can put them to good use.
Most of the bikes come to the facility during the warmer months when more people take advantage of the good weather, said Matt Landowski, assistant manager of transit passenger amenities and maintenance.
Once a bike is brought to Strasburg, staff record the bike's serial number and description and try to work with police to get in touch with the owner.
"We run the serial number to confirm if the bike has been stolen, so we'll share information with police so that we can reconnect the bike with its owner," he said.
If the bike has not been reported missing or stolen, Landowski said they keep the bike separate from the unclaimed ones for a month in hopes that the owner calls GRT to get it back.
Sometimes a bike is picked up, but most of the time they go unclaimed, he said.
"At that point we try to get the bikes to other agencies that do have a need for bicycles to give to those who need them," he adds.
Landowski said donations go to children's camps, Recycles Cycles or local churches.
"It's nice to see that they aren't being wasted, especially if there is a need for it. It's nice to get them to people," he said.
Community builder
The Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church has been part of the GRT bike program for the last five years and donates the bikes to newcomer or refugee families settling in the region.
"It's so important for people who come to a new area and a new country to feel like someone cares," said Mary Ellen Tierney, one of the church's pastors.
She said for the families they support, a bike can mean many things: not just a mode of transportation, but also a sense of independence and community in their new home.
Families often settle in parts of the region that aren't close to bus routes, so having a bike can help them get to their ESL classes, to the grocery store and work.
"It's a good community builder," she said. "I just love that. It's meeting, it's doing, it's seeing."
