Last updated: 22nd November 2003

A Walking School Bus is a group of schoolchildren from a neighborhood that walks to school together under the supervision of one or more parents.. A few informal Walking School Bus teams previously existed at project schools. The goal of the program is to encourage more families (especially those that live close to school) to form Walking School Bus teams so children and adults receive the health benefits of daily physical activity.

During the reporting period, a "Walk-to-School Month" was organized at each of the project area's four elementary schools, as a first step towards encouraging families to form Walking School Bus teams. Events included:

• A presentation to the Parents and Teachers Association on the health benefits of exercise and a survey on attitudes to physical activity
• A classroom survey on how children are currently traveling to school (baseline data)
• A poster, poem and rap contest with prizes on "Why I Like to Walk and Ride My Bike"
• A children's assembly with entertainment to promote Walk-to-School Day (see below)
• A Walk-to-School Day at which a free breakfast is provided and prizes are awarded

In a Physical Activity Self-Challenge, registered schoolchildren, parents, and teachers track their numbers of minutes of physical activity each day for a defined period. Prizes are awarded for achieving certain goals (eg. an average of 30 minutes of physical activity per day). The goal of the program is to encourage community members (especially youth) to develop the habit of daily physical activity.

During the reporting period, a Physical Activity Self-Challenge program was organized at the one junior high-school in the project area and at one of the elementary schools. 200 children at the two schools registered, of which 93 achieved the basic-level target of an average of 30 minutes of physical activity per day during the 7-week challenge.

To provide an opportunity for registered children to simultaneously achieve physical activity minutes and to effect a neighborhood improvement that would encourage community physical activity, a trash clean-up was organized one Saturday in partnership with the City of Columbia. 48 children registered in the Physical Activity Self-Challenge took part in this event.

The goal of the Communications program is to identify barriers and motivators to physical activity among the target audience, and develop media messages that address those issues.

During the reporting period, an initial survey instrument was designed and administered to 22 schoolchildren and 73 parents at PTA meetings. The primary motivator for walking a child to school was for health, and time/convenience was the main barrier, followed by safety concerns. A methodology for administering the survey scientifically to a random sample of schoolchildren and parents has been developed. Analysis of this survey will inform the design of messages that will be disseminated to children in partner schools and via mass media outlets to the community.

The "Bike, Walk, and Wheel" brand, logo and special events were marketed through leaflets, TV, radio, newspaper ads, and PedNet web site (www.pednet.org). A monthly, 40-minute news-talk radio segment with nutrition and fitness experts from the Project Team was established and reaches approximately 15,000 listeners. Custom jingles developed to reinforce messages and were performed during media broadcasts and at project events.

The goal of Policy Influence is to encourage public policy changes that make it more convenient for citizens to be physically active, especially by walking and biking for routine transportation.

During the reporting period, project partners participated in a community-wide effort to design and pass legislation for new street standards. The ordinance passed on June 7, 2004 insures new streets (and existing streets undergoing major repairs) will be built with wider sidewalks and narrower pavements, and that bike lanes and "pedways" (separated multi-use paths) will be included on major streets.

A number of secondary programs were also carried out during the reporting period:

• The "Third Annual Mayor's Challenge: Bike, Walk, and Wheel Week" attracted 1,373 registered participants, a 45% increase from last year.
• 135 donated and reconditioned bicycles were given away to low-income residents during the "Third Annual Cycle-Recycle."
• About 100 people participated in "Walk to the Ball Park" in partnership with the local minor league baseball team.
• A crosswalk outside a project area elementary school was officially converted to a "flag crosswalk," with the 50 flags being constructed by schoolchildren.
• A "Bike N Bus" leaflet encouraging the community to combine biking with mass transit was produced and distributed in partnership with the city-owned public transit company.