Over 4,100 communities across the United States celebrated Walk & Roll to School Day, bringing together students, families, educators, and key leaders to emphasize the importance of safe and healthy journeys. This annual event continues to grow in significance, advancing safer streets and active transportation for young people.

In Washington, DC, the event serves as a rallying call to improve infrastructure and policies focused on safety. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “I have been privileged to attend this event many times. We talk about what the city needs to do to make sure we have fantastic schools and great neighborhoods, and that it’s safe for you to walk, bike, and scoot to school. We have made a huge commitment with big investments, and we are going to continue to think big to make sure our city is sustainable and walkable.”

Mayor Bowser’s strategy reflects that of the US Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, with safe systems at its core. Globally recognized and evidence-based, safe systems is the foundation of the United Nations Decade of Action. Via the Safe Systems Consortium, the FIA Foundation, Johns  Hopkins University, and Institute for Transportation Engineers advocated for this proven strategy to be included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the National Roadway Safety Strategy, for the first time aligning national and global strategies.

School zones have proven to be a catalyst for safe systems implementation. Polly Trottenberg, the US Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary, said: “Before coming back to USDOT, I was the Transportation Commissioner in NYC, so I have a feeling for how important it is to make it safe and walkable for young people to get to school. There’s nothing like walking and biking. It helps you be physically fit, you emit no carbon, you connect with your neighborhood, and it helps makes the streets safer. We’re finally starting to see nationwide roadway fatalities going down, and it’s in part thanks to what everyone is doing to make our streets safer for walking and biking, including the work we’re doing at the federal level.”

This year’s event saw a renewed focus on designing streets to promote equity. Federal Highway Administration Acting Administrator Kristin White added, “We’ve been partnering with the Mayor, the DC Department of Transportation, and all of you on investments to keep you all safe as you walk, roll and bike to school. We’re adding protected bike lanes and making sure that safe streets are for all of us.”

The nationwide event has served as a beacon abroad. At the 2016 Walk & Roll to School Day, Mayor Bowser launched Vision Zero for Youth, which has since grown to Latin America. Latin America also hosted its first Walk & Roll to School Day events thanks to collaboration between Child Health Initiative Partners the Institute for Transport Development and Policy and the National Center for Safe Routes to School, which leads the initiative in the US. “We are here in Washington, DC because what you do has ripple effects. When you commit to safety, other nations follow. When you walk to school, children around the world walk with you. Together, we are making strides towards the United Nations Global Goals.” said Director of FIA Foundation’s North America office and United Nations Representative Natalie Draisin.

Other high level officials in attendance included: US Department of Transportation Deputy Assistant Secretaries Scott Goldstein and Ann Shikany; Adam Raviv, Chief Counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Director of the District Department of Transportation Sharon Kershbaum; Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen; Director of the DC Highway Safety Office Rick Birt; Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Professor Jeffrey Michael; and Caroline Mozingo, Co-Director of the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center, which houses the National Center for Safe Routes to School that leads Walk & Roll to School Day. Their presence underscored the national commitment to making the journey to school safer and healthier for all children. 

Watch speaker remarks here.