International Walk to School in the USA was kicked off by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez as they joined a group of students who attend Anne Beers Elementary School in Washington, D.C.
LaHood said students who walk to school get their safer and with more exercise than others who are driven to school by their parents or others.
“That’s right, apart from riding the familiar yellow school bus, walking to school is the safest way to get there,” he added.
This International Walk to School in the USA event is coordinated nationwide by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, the provider of technical support, resources and coordination efforts for federal program authorized by SAFETEA-LU. More than 11,300 schools in all 50 states and the District Columbia have already received federal and state funding through Safe Routes to School.
This year’s theme of International Walk to School in the USA is “Hike it. Bike it. I like it!” Students and teachers across North America in such locations as California, Ohio, Virginia, New Mexico, Tennessee, Kansas and British Columbia also participated. Even students in Ireland, Cuba and Italy got in on the act.
LaHood said that studies show walking or biking to school help students to “wake up their brains” for a day in class and to increase their physical activity. Similar to school buses, walking and biking to school can also reduce traffic congestion and reduce vehicle emissions around campuses caused by parents and others.
