BENTONVILLE — Residents looking to leave their car at home can learn how to properly navigate the city with a program designed to promote active transportation.
Walmart announced the launch of Active Commuter Academy via a news release Sept. 23. The program — a collaboration between Walmart, Velocity NWA, PeopleForBikes, Bentonville Moves Coalition and the city of Bentonville — provides free educational videos on how to safely use alternative means of transportation, including bikes, e-bikes, scooters, skateboards and one-wheels.
Ashley Patterson, manager of the Walmart Move Hub, stated in the news release Walmart is committed to fostering a culture of wellness.
“The Active Commuter Academy is more than just a safety campaign — it’s an invitation for Bentonville residents to rethink their commute, embrace alternative transportation and connect with our beautiful city in a healthier, more sustainable way,” she said.
Kourtney Barrett, chief executive officer and founder of Velocity NWA, said Sept. 27 the program is an investment in the community focused on improving the quality of life for Bentonville residents, many of whom are Walmart associates.
She said active transportation provides options to get from one place to another that are far less expensive than cars. It also provides health benefits by getting people to move their bodies and helps the environment by lowering people’s carbon footprints.
“You also have the emotional impact of connecting to nature and the good that that does for our body, and then also as you ride or walk through town, you have an opportunity to connect with others in your community in a way that being inside of a car doesn’t allow you to do,” she said.
Barrett said it’s important to accompany an increase in active mobility throughout the area with education.
Jackie Bubenik, Bentonville’s bike and pedestrian planner, said via email the city fully supports the Active Commuter Academy and encourages people to watch all the videos. He said they dovetail well with the launch of Bentonville’s e-bike rebate program, which allows residents to apply for a voucher they can use to buy an e-bike at a reduced price at certain local retailers.
Bubenik said the hope for the program is for people to relieve congestion on Bentonville’s roads by using alternative transportation in ways they perhaps hadn’t considered before.
The videos
The Active Commuter Academy consists of three videos with a combined runtime of just under 25 minutes. Barrett said the Bentonville-based 4media group created the videos, which can be watched in any order.
The first video — “Rules of the Road” — goes over state laws and common courtesies for commuting safely on Bentonville’s roads and trails. This includes the correct hand signals for people to indicate to drivers and other riders where he is going, the correct positions to communicate which way one intends to travel in an intersection and Arkansas’ Idaho Stop law, which allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and red traffic lights as stop signs.
“Biking 101” covers different forms of alternative transportation, bicycle gear and accessories, and equipment maintenance and storage. “Route Resources” talks about resources for planning a bike ride and alternative transportation, as well as the Ride to Work Wednesdays initiative, which encourages people to use alternative transportation to get to work.
Barrett said residents can watch the videos online through the Active Commuter Academy website. They can also view them during in-person lessons at Walmart’s Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness facility, where they will also receive hands-on demonstrations and the opportunity to ask questions. The facility held four of these lessons in September and has two scheduled for this month — one for Oct. 15 and another Oct. 22.
The videos had garnered more than 860 total views as of Wednesday.
E-bike rebates
Barrett said residents are required to watch “Rules of the Road” to get a voucher through Bentonville’s e-bike rebate program. Both programs went live Sept. 3.
Watching the video from start to finish on the Active Commuter Academy website will trigger a prompt for the viewer to fill out a request for a certificate of completion. The certificate will then be emailed to the viewer, who will have to upload the file to their application for the e-bike rebate program if he or she is selected to receive a rebate.
Callie Wohletz, Bentonville resident, said she participated in the Active Commuter Academy on her own schedule online and got a voucher for a cargo e-bike through the e-bike rebate program. She said her husband — a Walmart associate — uses the bike to commute to work.
Wohletz said although she has been riding bikes for as long as she can remember, the three videos still managed to teach while refreshing her memory. She thinks the program provides information that will create more confident, better educated cyclists on Bentonville’s roads and trails, which will build trust between cyclists and the community at large. This will ultimately lead to more people using cycling as a mode of transportation and recreation, as well as cycling more safely on roadways, according to Wohletz.
Tracy Lindstrom, another Bentonville resident, similarly got a rebate for a cargo e-bike. While Lindstrom admitted to only watching “Rules of the Road,” she thinks the video would’ve significantly helped her if she was a first-time commuter. She added it would be helpful if people who don’t commute by bike saw it as well.
A pair of cyclists ride Friday down Southwest A Street in Bentonville. Walmart has announced the launch of Active Commuter Academy, a collaborative project between Walmart, Velocity NWA, PeopleForBikes, Bentonville Moves Coalition and the city of Bentonville which will provide access to free educational videos on safe operation of alternative means of transportation. Kourtney Barrett, chief executive officer and founder of Velocity NWA, said residents can watch the videos either online through the Active Commuter Academy website or during in-person lessons at Walmart’s Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness facility. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger)
A trio of cyclists ride Friday down Main Street in Bentonville. Walmart has announced the launch of Active Commuter Academy, a collaborative project between Walmart, Velocity NWA, PeopleForBikes, Bentonville Moves Coalition and the city of Bentonville which will provide access to free educational videos on safe operation of alternative means of transportation. Kourtney Barrett, chief executive officer and founder of Velocity NWA, said residents can watch the videos either online through the Active Commuter Academy website or during in-person lessons at Walmart’s Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness facility. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger)
A trio of cyclists ride Friday down Main Street in Bentonville. Walmart has announced the launch of Active Commuter Academy, a collaborative project between Walmart, Velocity NWA, PeopleForBikes, Bentonville Moves Coalition and the city of Bentonville which will provide access to free educational videos on safe operation of alternative means of transportation. Kourtney Barrett, chief executive officer and founder of Velocity NWA, said residents can watch the videos either online through the Active Commuter Academy website or during in-person lessons at Walmart’s Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness facility. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger)
The Walton Family Whole Health and Fitness Facility stands Friday in Bentonville. Walmart has announced the launch of Active Commuter Academy, a collaborative project between Walmart, Velocity NWA, PeopleForBikes, Bentonville Moves Coalition and the city of Bentonville which will provide access to free educational videos on safe operation of alternative means of transportation. Kourtney Barrett, chief executive officer and founder of Velocity NWA, said residents can watch the videos either online through the Active Commuter Academy website or during in-person lessons at Walmart’s Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness facility. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger)
The Walton Family Whole Health and Fitness Facility stands Friday in Bentonville. Walmart has announced the launch of Active Commuter Academy, a collaborative project between Walmart, Velocity NWA, PeopleForBikes, Bentonville Moves Coalition and the city of Bentonville which will provide access to free educational videos on safe operation of alternative means of transportation. Kourtney Barrett, chief executive officer and founder of Velocity NWA, said residents can watch the videos either online through the Active Commuter Academy website or during in-person lessons at Walmart’s Walton Family Whole Health & Fitness facility. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Caleb Grieger)[]
