Walking School Buses, what they are and why they matter
Walking School Buses, what they are and why they matter
On school days, about one third of morning traffic in Metro Vancouver comes from cars dropping off kids at school, according to data from TransLink’s Trip Diary. This creates congestion in and around school zones while also contributing air pollution.
In response, TransLink, the City of Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and the Dedicated Action for School Health (DASH) are partnering on a new pilot program to encourage students to walk to and from school which promotes physical activity and helps reduce their carbon foot print.
The new initiative is called Kid Commute: A Walking School Bus Program, and consists of a group of students from the same school walking under the supervision of designated leaders. They walk along predetermined routes, at the same time each school day, with planned stops to pick up or drop off kids – just like a conventional school bus.
“When children are encouraged at an early age to take part in active transportation they’re more likely to continue choosing greener ways of moving around as they grow up,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.
Julie Falk, a Walking School Bus leader whose daughter participates each morning in the program with her, says the program is a time saver for parents.
“They don’t have to worry about being in a car and trying to find parking around schools which is always crazy…And they’re helping eliminate congestion problems by getting their kids to walk to school.”
Currently, there are eight participating Elementary Schools in the Cities of North Vancouver or Vancouver, but this program could expand depending on the success of the pilot and the interest from other schools and municipalities.
The participating schools include:
| Elementary School | Municipality |
| Larson | North Vancouver |
| Queen Mary | North Vancouver |
| Ridgeway | North Vancouver |
| Westview | North Vancouver |
| Queensbury (Starting April 2022) | North Vancouver |
| Cunningham | Vancouver |
| Lord Selkirk Annex | Vancouver |
| Trafalgar | Vancouver |
Families or school administrators who would like to get involved with this program should reach out to DASH by emailing info@dash.bc.ca.
They walk along predetermined routes, at the same time each school day, with planned stops to pick up or drop off kids – just like a conventional school bus. Good idea!
We used to call it ……walking to school!!!! And we did it with friend that we met up with along the way and walked in groups It’s not a new concept people!???
The world is just a WEE bit less safe these days…
Also, no one said walking was new! ???
Why are these children wearing masks? They are outside. They need fresh air.
As opposed to the air that one breathes while wearing a mask?
Why do you exist in this world. You need to go to hell. You must die.
Why does this need to be organized by a central transportation authority like TransLink or DASH? Can’t parents organize themselves? The requirement for First Aid Training course and vulnerable sector police record check is evidence of a bit too much of a bloated bureaucracy that has nothing better to do. My gosh, this is walking for goodness sakes.
As a parent at this school, the group is made up of mostly younger students, multiple kindergarteners. Some/most parents these days are highly cautious of sending kindies out on their own with out reassurance of sorts. A vetted leader gives massive reassurance. It’s saves valuable time for parents who can tend to other commitments. It fosters bonding between kids that may never have met otherwise, older kids that will look out for their new little friend. Sometimes it just takes an initiative like this to inspire other parents to come together and organize their own route. But these days we’re less a village with much less time to find the right group of parents to commit. So this is a great start.
This is fantastic. I appreciate that there are that many less cars congesting the school routes. I love that parents can send there children off with a trusted adult. Walking to school alone isn’t what it used to be, especially at such a young age
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