National Walk To School Day
October 3rd is National Walk To School Day, and parents all over the country are being encouraged to ditch the car for one morning and either walk their kids to school, or let the kids walk themselves. Here in Portland, it won't be any different. Ever trying to retain our status as a leader in being 'Green', the City has implemented a project called the Safe Routes To School Program. Started several years ago, the 'SR2S', as it's called, attempts to plan out safe walking and biking paths from neighborhoods to area schools, with the goal of reducing already dense morning traffic around the City, as well as promoting physical activity in a youth population that is seeing a rising obesity problem.
The Safe Routes To School Program is one of a number of forward looking, pollution reducing programs run by the Portland Office of Transportation. In addition to finding safe routes for children to walk to school, the program also aims to provide route information to other areas children might frequent on foot, like libraries and parks. The program is also looking to make improvements on existing pathways and major intersections on the most heavily used routes, and it is doing its best to make maps of these routes available for families.
More information on the Safe Routes To School Program can be found at the Portland Office of Transportation.
Related posts:
- Shopping By Bike
- Walking Into The 1950’s
- Help Keep Portland Bike-Friendly
- ‘Green Your Ride’ for National Pollution Prevention Week
- Planning The Streetcar’s Future
