Our Story

A new bike safety program

In 1988, a special education student was severely injured by a car while he was riding his bike at night without a helmet. The crash sparked intense community debate on whether individuals with disabilities should be riding bikes. This was distressing for John Waterman, a public school teacher in Battle Creek, Michigan. His belief was that anyone could ride given the proper training and support.

John started an after-school bike safety program for kids with disabilities because he wanted to prove that they could ride safely too. Many of the program’s early participants were his students from school. Soon, students learned how to embrace the bike as a means of independence and integrating with their communities. As students progressed in their skills, they started joining bike clubs and riding alongside cyclists without disabilities.

The bike program expanded with help from sponsors like DALMAC and the Arc. From 1988 to 1992, the Arc of Calhoun Country took the cycling program under their wing as a fiduciary. In 1992, John moved to the east side of Michigan and his cycling program relocated to Wayne-Westland. Further sponsorships helped the program thrive. It became a summer program and grew to include the downriver area, Detroit, and Washtenaw. The 2×2 program was also created to give blind individuals a chance to cycle on a tandem.

Becoming PEAC

In 2004, our bike program opened its doors as Programs to Educate all Cyclists (PEAC). We became an independent nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities by championing cycling as transportation, integrated recreation, fitness, and therapy.

In 2010, we established the School Active Transportation Program with SMART’s support. Our motto of Everyone Can Ride took on a broader meaning to include riding transit. Now, we were teaching high school students with disabilities how to independently travel around their communities by biking, taking public transit, and walking.

We also began advocating for safe streets in Michigan. In 2010, John co-authored a white paper beginning the discussion on “Effectively Planning and Implementing Safe Routes to School for Students with Disabilities”. That same year, students from PEAC testified in support of the Complete Streets Bill in front of the Michigan House and Senate Transportation Committees. Their testimony was instrumental in getting the bill to pass.

In 2011, we co-sponsored Bicycle & Trail Advocacy Day (now Lucinda Means Advocacy Day) with the League of Michigan Bicyclists. Our students met with Michigan state senators and representatives to discuss how to make bicycling safer for individuals of all abilities.

In 2013, we moved into our current headquarters in Ypsilanti. Nowadays, this is where we store our fleet of bikes for our programs. It’s also a place from where we began advocating for regional transit in Southeast Michigan. In 2016, our student advocates were on the Citizens Advisory Committee, encouraging their communities to vote in favor of the Regional Transit Authority Mileage on the ballot. In 2017, we also formed our Community Active Transportation Program through the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN) to build on our commitment for getting individuals with disabilities to ride transit.

Today, we partner with organizations and schools to deliver our programs throughout Michigan. Together, we can ensure that everyone rides.