"It turns out walking and biking to school is way more exciting if all your friends are doing it. It's even more fun when you get a free pencil that changes colors once you arrive. That's how many kids at Peralta Elementary School felt yesterday morning when they joined International Walk & Roll to School Day, a campaign that encourages students, parents, and their caregivers to use green modes of transit."
"At each school entrance, children were given stickers to add to a board in the courtyard, indicating how they made their way to school. There was a slot for people who walked, another for those who "rolled in" (including cycling), for those who carpooled, used transit, and, finally, those who drove without carpooling. That information will be gathered and sent to the Alameda County Transportation Commission, which will use it to better understand infrastructure needs around schools."
"The program, funded through the county's Measure BB sales tax, aims to get kids out to enjoy their environment rather than staring at screens while they get driven to school by their parents. A startling statistic on the campaign's website says that in one generation, the "number of kids walking and bicycling to school has dropped from 71% to 18%.""
Students at Peralta Elementary participated in International Walk & Roll to School Day, arriving on foot, bikes, or rollers and receiving incentives like color-changing pencils. Volunteers organized entry stations where children placed stickers on boards indicating travel mode categories: walked, 'rolled in', carpooled, transit, or driven alone. The collected data will be sent to the Alameda County Transportation Commission to inform infrastructure planning. Twenty-nine schools registered for the event, funded by Measure BB sales tax. The program promotes outdoor activity over screen time and notes a generational decline in walking and bicycling to school from 71% to 18%.
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