Alameda County Transportation Commissioner Elisa Márquez greets students at Burbank Elementary School on International Walk and Roll to School Day 2023.

Every October, schools across the county–and the world–celebrate International Walk and Roll to School Day (IWR2SD). The celebration is designed to encourage students, families and the school community to roll, walk, bicycle, take transit, or use other non-motorized transportation to get to school.

This year, we celebrated IWR2SD on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. Throughout the day, students shared how they got to school by placing a sticker on our mode chart under the corresponding category that matched how they got to school. Participating students received fun giveaways and took part in a global event with students around the world.

With almost 100 schools reporting in, over 11,000 students walked, more than 4,700 rolled (biked and scootered), over 3,000 carpooled, and more than 900 students took buses or transit! You can check out the breakdown for the county in the chart below:

Thank you to everyone who celebrated! This great opportunity to make our streets safer, reduce traffic, improve air quality, and have fun exercising with our communities will be back again next year!

Why Should We Celebrate and Encourage Walking and Rolling to School?

• In one generation, the number of kids walking and bicycling to school has dropped from 71% to 18%.
• Transportation is responsible for nearly 40% of the Bay Area’s harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
• Seventy-five percent of California students are not able to pass basic fitness standards.
• Travel to school accounts for approximately 21% of all morning traffic.
• It is an easy way for children to get the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

How to Organize IWR2SD at Your School 

After registering for the event, your school site coordinator will reach out to let you know of your upcoming Task Force meeting. At this meeting, they will tell you how to notify your school administrators, promote the event within your school community, and distribute posters for you to hang around your school. Your site coordinator will also hand out materials for the day of the event, such as the mode charts and the student giveaways.

Task Force meetings are also a great way for school champions to share advice and suggestions on promoting the event.

If you’re unable to attend a Task Force meeting, please contact your site coordinator.

Share Your Event with Us!

We love seeing photos and videos of fun IWR2SD events across Alameda County! Remember to ask parents to fill out the photo/video release form (posted under the “Resources” sidebar to the right). Tag @AlamedaCOSR2S on Twitter and Facebook, or email photos and videos to your site coordinator!