October 8th, 2008- Portland celebrated Walk & Bike to School Day at Rosa Parks Elementary School. Yesterday over 300 students and their families from Rosa Parks Elementary walked and biked to school. The event was in collaboration with Portland's Safer Routes to School.
This program's goal is to create safer routes to school for students, with the understanding of the importance of increased physical activity, pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements, and traffic congestion reduction. Through increased walking and biking, we impact the environment positively and build connections between families, schools, and the broader community.
This was one event of thousands in schools across the city, state, and globe that aimed to promote healthy living through safe walking and bicycling to school. In the U.S., Walk & Bike to School Day included 5,000 schools from all 50 states. On a local level, over 49 Portland school participated yesterday in the International Walk to School Day.