RFID System Encourages Safe Biking to School

A non-profit organization has set up a system in Colorado that uses RFID to encourage pupils to ride their bikes to school - and wear their helmets while they're at it. It has been such a success that neighbouring states have already started adopting it.

The program's mission is to promote cycling to school as a way of cutting down carbon emissions and to help keep children fit. Each time a pupil rides to school and passes the solar-powered RFID readers set up near the bike stands, the RFID tag on his or her helmet is read and the system is updated about the completed journey to school.

The kids can then log into the system online to check their statistics and progress towards their riding goal. At the end of the year, bike rides are traded for prizes. And of course, the more bike rides, the more interesting the reward.

Instead of tracking each rider's own bike, the operators wanted to track helmets in order to make sure the young riders were indeed wearing them.

The system not only motivates children to stay fit, it also encourages safety since riders must be wearing their helmets to participate.