Walk + Bike Challenge Month
The Walk + Bike Challenge is a friendly competition aimed at encouraging more kids and families to use active transportation to travel to and from school and throughout their neighborhoods. The Challenge is hosted by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) with support from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), and other partners.
During the Challenge, school coordinators track the number of students biking, walking, and skating to school throughout the month. At the end of the Challenge, prizes go to the schools that log the most biking trips, the most walking trips, largest total number of students walking and biking, and highest percentage of students (out of the total school population) walking and biking.
Nationwide the rate of kids biking or walking to school has been on the decline since the 1970s while the risks to kids’ physical health and well-being associated with inactivity have risen. But in Portland, the percentage of kids biking or walking to school has risen from 28% in 2006 to 39% in 2010.
This remarkable trend is a reflection of the public’s commitment to investing in safe biking and walking routes, education, and encouragement programs like the Walk + Bike Challenge. The trend is also seen in communities around the state as Oregon is the national leader in overall participation in Walk + Bike events.
The first 130 schools to register received a free package of incentives including stickers, temporary tattoos, and ribbons to help encourage participation. All participating schools received a free coordinator packet with tips and resources for promoting the event, organizing parent volunteers, procuring local prizes, and tracking trips. The BTA will hold weekly prize drawings for schools that log trips each week to win extra incentives like Nutcase helmets, gift certificates, and other great prizes.
The BTA will announce the winners at an awards ceremony on Saturday, June 12 at the N. Mississippi Street Cirque du Cycling. All participants are welcome to join the bike ride or walking parade. Communities outside of Portland are encouraged to celebrate the end of the Challenge and winning schools locally.
“Here in Oregon we have a valuable reputation as a national leader in active transportation. Yet there is more work to be done to build healthy, safe streets for our kids. The Walk + Bike program is a great way for schools to show how much demand exists in the community for investments in walking and biking routes, programs, and education.”
- Rob Sadowsky, BTA executive director
