Walking School Bus
Healthier kids, step by step
Fewer than 16% of children today walk to school, but Walking School Bus programs across the country are trying to reverse that downward trend.
A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school or as structured as a planned route running on a schedule, picking up students at stops, and operating with trained adult "drivers." A variation on the walking school bus is a bicycle train where a group of children and adult leaders ride together to school.
Started by an inventor in Australia in the late 1990s, walking school buses have been popping up around the world and are now spreading across the United States. What began as a way to reduce traffic levels and give children a sense of independent mobility, has become another tool to improve physical activity among schoolchildren.
The benefits of a walking school bus can be seen in many areas. A walking school bus provides regular exercise outside of school hours, which can make up for decreased physical education class time during the school day and sedentary afterschool activities. And where vehicle traffic and the number of traditional school buses are reduced, traffic congestion around schools declines and safety and air quality are improved.
Case Studies
The walking school buses in Lawton have offered some unexpected benefits to the community.
Safer Routes KC supports and encourages walking and biking to school in Kansas City, Missouri.