Danielle McCurrie, a teacher at Monsignor J.S. Smith, launched the program in the spring of 2007 in consultation with parent organizer Colleen Magee. McCurrie got the idea from a booklet published by SHAPE, Alberta’s Safe, Healthy, Active People Everywhere organization. “I was a bit interested,” McCurrie says, “and then I realized it would be easy for a school to do this. There’s not much for families to do either,” she adds. “You just have to be up and out of the house at a certain time.”

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Why Active School Transportation?
For some time now, large numbers of parents have been driving their children to and from school each day. Even though almost two-thirds of Canadian families live close enough for the children to walk to school, only about one-third of children actually do that. Combine the rides young people typically receive to get to school with the many hours they spend watching TV and playing video games: the result is a very high level of inactivity, and often accompanying health problems, particularly obesity.

One of the major reasons so many parents choose to drive their children to school is concerns about their safety, says Doug Gleddie, Director of Ever Active Schools. The problem is, however, that the kids are being deprived of an easy-to-do and free-of-charge daily physical activity that promotes better health without the need for a lot of advance planning.

Active school transportation helps to address the safety issue. “People are more comfortable about their children’s safety when they know we’re out there walking with them,” says Magee, “and one of the other outcomes of doing this is a stronger feeling of community. You get to know the ‘regulars,’ parents, volunteers and students.”

Agencies Taking Action
To encourage schools to try active school transportation and similar programs, Ever Active Schools has been sharing the successes that schools like Monsignor J.S. Smith have had. “We have developed a promising practices database,” Gleddie says. “We are keeping track of what people are doing successfully so others can use these ideas.”

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SHAPE, formed in 2001, is also trying to increase the number of children in Alberta who walk or cycle to school. “Participation in walking events such as Winter Walk day has been increasing,” says provincial manager Bev Esslinger. “The first year of Winter Walk Day we had 30,000 people walking, and the second year there were 60,000.” The SHAPE programs have attracted interest from as far away as Ontario.

• SHAPE promotes several special days, including Winter Walk Day (February 10, 2010), and Bike to School Day (June 3, 2010).
• SHAPE’s popular Walking School Bus mascot raises awareness in the community. Schools can borrow this big model of a school bus for walk-to-school groups to carry with them. “When we have the mascot, the number of participants in our community increases,” says McCurrie.
• SHAPE also has a walking buddies program that families can download from their website and use to register with others who want to walk to school with another student at their school.

Both Ever Active Schools and SHAPE support and promote International Walk to School Week, held each year in early October. Gleddie says that although people might not continue with this activity, the idea has been raised. They begin to realize that walking together not only contributes to fitness but also builds a sense of community. International Walk to School Week was launched in Britain in 1994 with just a few schools taking part, but by 2007 there were 42 countries involved, and thousands of Canadian children and their parents participating.

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Supporting Active Transportation in Your School Community
Active school transportation can take many forms in addition to the walking school bus format used at Monsignor Smith School. For example, school communities might consider:

• Designating a drop zone such as a grocery store parking lot a short distance away from the school, perhaps one kilometer or less. Parents drive their children to the designated location and have them walk the rest of the way to school accompanied by a parent and/or community volunteers. (Older students might walk with classmates, in a group.)
• Providing safe and secure storage for bikes, rollerblades and skateboards to make it easier for students to use these forms of transportation.
• Organizing “focus days,” such as Walk to School days once or twice a month to encourage students to try using active transportation to get to school.

Parents can help promote the cause too. They can help their children plan a safe route to school. Sometimes a longer route is preferable in order to avoid dangerous intersections and make use of available traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Parents can speak to their children about the need for caution in interacting with adults they don’t know as they make their way to school.

Active school transportation is starting to catch on in Alberta.  “We haven’t had any problems,” says Magee, “and the numbers are growing slowly.” And, Esslinger adds, “If you walk to school you are more likely to walk to the park.”

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Learn More

Safe, Healthy, Active People Everywhere (SHAPE) 
A wealth of tips, manuals, statistics and ideas – all-around active transport!

Active Healthy Kids Canada
The report card on physical activity for children and youth provides the latest statistics and recommendations for Canadians.