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Walking to school is both simple and impactful

School active transportation means getting to and from school (or part of the way) by walking or wheeling.

What is School Active Transportation?
A group of children wearing backpacks walking down a sidewalk.

“Walking to school is a wonderful first step towards building long-term sustainable transportation habits in our city.”

Dzifa Binka, Project Lead, EnviroCentre

What are the benefits of school active transportation? 

  • Health: Walking and wheeling to school is a great way to promote physical activity. According to the 2024 ParticipACTION Report Card, only 39% of Canadian children (ages 5-17) are getting the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day.
  • Safety: Active transportation reduces road congestion in the school zone, making it safer for everyone in the community.  
  • Community: Using active transportation helps people get to know their neighbourhood and builds a sense of community. As families walk to school or to the bus stop, they build relationships with each other and the neighbours that they see along the way. 
  • Air Quality: by not using a car to get to school, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the school zone are reduced. This contributes to helping meet Ontario’s target of 30% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030.  
  • Lifelong habits: Studies show that children who walk, cycle, or ride a bus for transportation, at least some of the time, are likely to grow into young adults who walk, cycle, and use transit. By walking to school, children build positive attitudes toward active and sustainable transportation – benefiting themselves and the planet! 

EnviroCentre’s School Active Transportation (SAT) program 

As part of our commitment to advancing active and sustainable transportation options for Ottawa area residents, EnviroCentre is proud to deliver the School Active Transportation program on behalf of the City of Ottawa.  The SAT program provides valuable support and resources to build active and sustainable transportation habits among Ottawa students, families, and school communities.   

EnviroCentre uses a model developed by Green Communities Canada, called School Travel Planning.  This model is used across the country and addresses the five E’s of transportation planning:

Education

Building skills with Bike Rodeos and pedestrian-safety workshops, sharing maps, tips, and resources with the entire school community to enhance active transportation.

Enforcement

Coordinating enforcement blitzes to encourage safe behavior in the school zone.

Encouragement

Holding Walk-to-School days, walking field trips, enhancing communications efforts, and friendly classroom competitions.

Engineering

Working with the City to identify infrastructure improvements, crossing guards, signage changes, and other measures to enhance walking and wheeling to school.

Evaluation

Conducting student and family surveys to track changes over time.

A group of children wearing backpacks walking to school during the winter.

Increasing rates of active transportation 

Approximately 26% of students in grades 6 to 10 in Canada typically use active modes of transportation to get to school. The goal of the SAT program is to increase these rates, and recent survey data shows that schools involved in the SAT program have higher rates of walking to school! 

The 2022 OSTA Transportation Survey Report summarizes data about how families from the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa Catholic School Board travel to school. Survey results show that 32% of respondents from schools that have graduated from or are currently engaged in the SAT program walked all the way to school compared to 15% of respondents from schools that have never participated in the SAT program. 

Get the Report

School Active Transportation Resources 

English Resources  

French Resources 

Resources from Other Organizations

Multimedia Resources

Watch this fun, engaging video that describes why school bus drivers are environmental heroes!

Active transportation has many benefits! Learn about them in this educational video.

Your guide to improving school zone safety in your community.

Multilingual Resources

The Top 5 Benefits of Active Transportation Infographic

This great new resource, highlighting the benefits of active transportation, is available in the ten most commonly spoken languages in Ottawa, including English, French, Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, Cantonese, Farsi, Vietnamese, Somali, and Russian.

Download a copy (or copies) to share with your school community! 

Find out how your school can participate

To find out how your school can participate in our SAT program, contact us or sign up for our quarterly newsletter.

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A group of children wearing backpacks walking across the street in front of a school bus and a crossing guard.

Hop! 

A bilingual app that makes walking to school fun  

Hop! is an app created by EnviroCentre and the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) to encourage elementary students to walk to school. Students can use the app to log the distances they have walked and see the positive impact walking has on the environment.

Hop! tells students how much greenhouse gas they’ve averted by walking instead of driving and its group challenges and milestones keep students motivated to choose active transportation.

Hop! is free and available for download by anyone. Schools are particularly encouraged to use it in their active transportation initiatives.

Get the Web App

Hop! Resources

Hop! Toolkit – a resource explaining how to use the Hop! app to promote walking to school in English and French.

One Pager about Hop! in English and French

Setting up Teams (for Teachers) in English and French

Hop! Poster in English and French

Flyer about Hop! (Created by OSTA in English)