DC Families Celebrate International Walk to School Day

(Washington, DC) – The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) would like to congratulate all of the students and families who participated in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday. The event, held across the country and the world, was a big success in the District with many school communities hosting special events before the first bell.

In Marvin Gaye Park, students from Burrville Elementary School gathered with representatives from the DDOT, SafeKids DC, FedEx, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), and Washington Parks & People. The Burrville Physical Education teacher led students in some warm-ups before they walked to school together.

In the Edgewood Neighborhood of Northeast, the Edgewood Terrace I Residents’ Association and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy partnered with the Children’s National Medical Center’s Burn and Trauma Unit for a Walk to School Day event on the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Volunteers were on hand to distribute goody bags to students on foot.

On Capitol Hill, students from about a dozen schools gathered at Lincoln Park for their annual International Walk to School Day celebration. Several Capitol Hill schools host similar events on a weekly basis.

Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in Northeast encouraged students to bike or walk to school on October 3 by instituting a one-day “car tax.” All parents who drove directly to the school in a car were asked to pay $1. To help parents avoid the car tax, the school provided parent volunteers to accompany walking school buses and bike trains from the Franciscan Monastery parking lot at 14th and Quincy, NE.

Walk to School events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment, and building connections between families, schools, and the broader community.

To date, twenty DC schools have registered Walk to School Day events on the website, www.walkbiketoschool.org , and the total number of participating schools is expected to grow throughout October, which is International Walk to School Month.

About DC Safe Routes to School Program

Walking and biking to school mean healthier children and less traffic. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Safe Routes to School program works to make it safer, more convenient, and more fun to get to school on foot or by bicycle. The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration. To learn more about the DC Safe Routes to School Program, visit the following website: ddot.dc.gov/saferoutes or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DCSafeRoutesToSchool .