How To Get Freiker

Are you ready to bring Freiker to your school and start reaping the rewards?

• More alert kids: Kids who get regular exercise are more alert. Our program can also help kids gain self-confidence.

• Fewer cars idling in front of your school: Studies have shown that the most polluted air in any given city is often around schools as parents drop off and pick up their kids.

• More parent-child interaction: Many parents ride to school with their children. Adam, a resident of Boulder who lives near Crest View Elementary, told us I love seeing the happy, steady parade of kids going by my house, and the families all having morning bike together time. That's really a great and sweet benefit.

• Fewer or shorter bus routes: The more kids that are riding, the fewer that are riding the bus, which could mean that your school can shorten or eliminate bus routes. And with the record price of gas, the cost savings could be substantial.

Contact us and we can help you determine if your school is a good fit for Freiker, as well as answer any specific questions or issues relating to your school.

Cost and Funding

Freiker costs $4,000 per year. This fee includes one leased Freikometer, use of the website by the schools and kids, hardware and software support and maintenance, and 500 tags. If you need more than one Freikometer, or if you have special considerations at your school, please contact us we are very good at accommodating special needs.

This fee does not include the following:

• Prizes
• Installation of a wireless access point on the school's network, if necessary (see Implementing Freiker below)
• Marketing materials and events, e.g., T-shirts, banners, fliers, kickoff or end-of-year parties (which are recommended but not required), etc.

Schools have funded Freiker from a variety of sources, including the school's operating budget, funds from the parent teacher association, sponsorships from local business, and local or national grants. Freiker is a qualified recipient for certain Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funds, and several of our schools have used SRTS funds to implement the Freiker program.

Implementing Freiker

If your school has signed up for Freiker, you are probably wondering, What next? It's remarkably simple. The Freikometer uploads the rides daily. The software takes care of (almost) all of the rest. Here are the main points that you should be aware of:

• Installation - First, you need to install a 4 x 4 wooden post. We will give you guidelines to select the proper location, but it should be as near the bike racks as possible. We will ship you the Freikometer with installation instructions, and a person with average technical skills can install it on the post in less than an hour. It helps to have an assistant to lift the Freikometer and solar panel onto the post.

• Wireless access - We need access to a standard WiFi network with DHCP with access to the internet. This is how the Freikometer uploads the data. A standard wireless router in a window near the school normally does the trick.

• Volunteers - The Freikometer significantly cuts down on the need for volunteer involvement. But you will still need volunteers or administrators to stand out at the Freikometer to hand out tags, answer questions, promote the program, etc. We recommend that a Freiker volunteer be at the Freikometer every day for the first week or two to hand out tags and tell the kids about the program. On an ongoing basis, having a volunteer out there one day a week to hand out the weekly Green Gear award and any new tags is usually sufficient.

• Prizes - Each school determines the type of prizes that it wants to offer the kids, as well as the number of rides required to earn each level of prize. We find that iPods are extremely effective. We saw a significant increase in ridership the first year that iPods were offered, and that ridership level has gone up each year. The school is also responsible for obtaining those prizes and delivering them to kids. This can be done on an ongoing basis or at an end-of-the-year party.

Learn More

If you want to bring the Freiker program to your school or want to learn more details about the program, please contact us . We have been running Freiker at multiple schools for several years, and we have a lot of good tips and suggestions to share.