The Walking School Bus Program: A Primer and First Steps

When parents are reluctant to allow their children to walk to school, safety is one of the most common reasons given. Providing adult supervision can help address safety concerns for families who live within walking or bicycling distance to school, and a walking school bus program seeks to do just that along with a healthy dose of fun.

A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school or as formal as a well-planned walking route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers.

Created by the National Center for Safe Routes to School in partnership with PedNet Coalition — a national leader in developing Walking School Bus programs — this training seeks to highlight important planning tips and strategies for planning a walking school bus program. Participants will gain an understanding of how to prepare, build momentum and launch a walking school bus program, including identifying community partners, and securing program funding.

Click here to view the training modules.