A walking school bus combines safety, fun and fitness while walking to school!
A walking school bus consists of a group of children walking to school with one or more adults, usually picking up more children at predetermined stops along the route.
Walking school buses can be:
- two or three families taking turns walking their children to school
- a planned route with meeting points, a time table and a schedule of trained adult volunteers
- once a week, month, on special days or everyday
There are so many benefits of a walking school bus!
Students and Children:
- Have fun
- Learn pedestrian safety with adult guidance and supervision
- Engage in physical activity
- Foster healthy habits that could last a lifetime
- Explore their neighborhoods
- Socialize and meet new friends
- Gain independence
- Arrive at school ready to learn
Parents and Volunteers:
- Spend more time with their children
- Meet and socialize with other families
- Address concerns about their children walking to school
- Save gas by leaving the car at home
Schools and communities benefit by:
- Reducing traffic congestion near and around schools within the community
- Addressing busing reductions or eliminations for students
- Decreasing air pollution resulting from fewer gas emissions
- Having students arrive on time and ready to learn
Route selection will be guided by the locations of interested families and students.
Route selection will be influenced by:
- routes that are safe
- walking conditions that are good (i.e. sidewalks are present)
- street crossings that are safe
- behavior of motorists
- location of crossing guards
Conduct a walk ability audit and note the following:
- Is there room to walk?
- Is it easy to cross the street?
- Did the drivers behave well? Did drivers slow down?
- Was the walk pleasant?
Print out the Walk Assessment Checklist (MS Word) or Walk Assessment Checklist (PDF) which can help you assess the walking school bus route and determine the next steps.
Start a walking school bus today! Identify key people and willing partners (school leaders, principal, PTOs, parents, police) to help with the planning.
Considerations for a successful walking school bus include:
- Achievable — how often, how soon?
- Manageable — size of school, number of routes, number of participants
- Contactable — can you reach parents, teachers, principals, students?
- Recruitable — can you get volunteers? how many are available?
- Walkable — are there sidewalks, crosswalks, crossing guards, traffic signals, etc?
If you are interested in planning a walking school bus, here are details on how to get one going in your community.
You can also contact your SRTS Regional Coordinator for assistance in starting a walking school bus.
Planning a walking school bus – Here are some important considerations when planning a walking school bus in your community.
