Up to 36,000 children from over 100 schools are getting ready to take part in Feet First - Walk to School Week during 6-10 March.
Feet First - Walk to School Week is happening in selected schools around New Zealand and promotes the benefits gained from regular walking to and from school. These benefits are saving on the cost of petrol, reduced energy use and harmful emissions from cars, improved fitness, health and social interaction for children and their caregivers, and reduced congestion at the school gate.
EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), Land Transport New Zealand and selected city councils, with sponsorship from Sanitarium, are encouraging children to join walking school buses or walk to and from school with their caregivers during the week. A highlight of the week is Walk to School Day which is Wednesday 8th March. Schools will be aiming to have as many children as possible walking and motorists should be aware that the streets are being reclaimed by children.
Heather Staley, Chief Executive of EECA, says “Children are increasingly being driven to and from their local school, with some schools reporting over 90% of the roll being regularly driven. Average rolls in our cities are over 350 children so these trips are a major waste of fuel, they cause safety issues at the school gate, they are also costing us hours in congestion on the road and a significant amount in health impacts.”
Education related traffic accounts for over 40% of peak hour passenger transport in our cities and congestion is predicted to be costing well over one billion dollars a year in lost resource and fuel alone. Schools can play a part in turning this around and previous walk to school days have achieved nearly 100 percent participation in walking.
To encourage walking, prizes of sports equipment are being offered to schools with children that have a high participation both during and after the week. Also, the school in each of the five cities participating with the most children walking on Walk to School Day will win a Sanitarium breakfast with a well known New Zealand sports star. As safety is important around schools Geared New Zealand Limited will be providing Roadworks high visibility jackets as spot prizes.
For more information on walking school buses and the Feet First promotion visit www.eeca.govt.nz or call the walking school bus or safety coordinator at your local city council or sports trust.
