On October 4th 2023 Oakland Tech’s Bike and Pedestrian Safety club hosted International Walk and Roll To School Day to encourage Tech students to walk, bike, bus and carpool to school.
This year Oakland Tech’s event took place on the front steps on Broadway. Members of Oakland Tech’s Bike and Pedestrian Safety club greeted students with free snacks, sunglasses, and pencils as they entered the building and kept a count of how students had arrived to school that morning on a mode chart (figure 1). Over 60% of surveyed students walked or Rolled to school via bike, carpool, or bus (see figure 2).
Walk and Roll To School Day is meant to celebrate students’ everyday commute and to encourage people to try a new mode of transportation. Thousands of Alameda County K-12 students walked, rolled, carpooled and took transit to school for the event, according to Michele Walker, High School Program Manager for Alameda County Safe Routes to School.
“We are so excited for Oak Tech to continue participating in Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools activities and getting more high school students to choose sustainable modes of transportation!” says Walker.
Oakland Tech Student and avid bike commuter Naia Quigly was part of the team that led the effort. Quigly says, “I bike to school because it’s better for the environment than driving, and starting off the day with physical activity puts me in a good mood every day”.
According to TransForm an Alameda County transportation non-profit the first Walk and Roll to School Day was celebrated in 1997. Alameda County has been observing the day every October since 2006. The TransForm website states, transportation makes up 60% of greenhouse gas emissions in Alameda County. Students can make a difference simply by changing how they get to school in the mornings.
The next Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety club event will be a bike repair pop up on November 15th 2023.