Educating kids on the numerous options for getting around the region is one of TravelSmart‘s initiatives. This year, TransLink, through TravelSmart, is supporting Walk to School Week (iWalk). Over the past six years, TransLink has sponsored this event that allows children from kindergarten and elementary school as well as high school students with a valid GoCard to ride transit for free between October 8-12, 2012.

Here’s some advise for kids who’d like to take advantage of free transit during Walk to School Week:

• In order to avoid crowds when not commuting to and from school, it’s best to travel during “off-peak” hours – between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
• Use TransLink’s online resources including Trip Planner or our mobile website to plan your route.
• Teachers, if your school is in an area with a relatively high frequency of bus service or if you plan to use SkyTrain for field trip during Walk to School Week, consider splitting the class (accompanied by supervision of course), with one group taking the following bus or train.

Please spread the word about this week to other kids and parents. We want eligible students to take advantage of Walk to School Week. You can help us spread the word by printing off this iWalk 2012 poster and posting it where other will see it.

Regardless of the time of day, we can expect to see more people on the transit system during this week. TransLink encourages regular customers to be patient and welcome our new transit users.