TRANSLINK, the City of Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and the Dedicated Action for School Health (DASH) have partnered to encourage students to walk to and from school in groups known as walking school buses. The goal of this new program is to lower air pollution and reduce congestion near schools by promoting active transportation. 

This new initiative, called Kid Commute: A Walking School Bus Program, brings groups of students from the same school together to walk under the supervision of designated leaders. These groups walk along predetermined routes each school day with planned stops to pick up or drop off kids, like a conventional school bus would. 

Currently, participating schools reside in the City of Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver. The participating elementary schools include: 

Some benefits of the Walking School Bus Program include:

• Encouraging physical activity and active transportation.
• Reducing congestion near schools.
• Reducing air pollution/emissions.
• Helping students build new friendships and sense of community.
• Saving families time who would otherwise drop off or pick up their children.

The program is administered by DASH that organizes and executes the walking school buses with staff, families, volunteers, and schools. The program partners will monitor the success of this pilot program before potentially expanding to other municipalities and schools in the future. 

This program was developed and partially funded by TransLink with additional funding and support from the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the City of Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and the North Vancouver School District. Families or school administrators who want to get involved with the program should reach out to DASH by emailing info@dashbc.ca.

More information:

Walking School Bus webpage