Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School located at 444 Sherbourne St in Toronto is a ‘poster child’ for active transportation. Past decisions provided school bus service for students who lived no more than 5 minutes away from the school. When the opportunity to participate in Green Community Canada’s (GGC) active transporta-tion pilot the school jumped at the chance to get their kids walking and cycling to and from school more. Thanks to a facilitator provided by GGC the school was able to engage community partners and realign school resources to make active transportation a viable choice for the families in this community. This included a community walkabout where all stakeholders were able to see the obstacles for students and families and suggestions were made to address these issues. The facilitator was able to make suggestions and work with school staff to help them with strategies to promote the active transportation message. With a school population of over 600 students the number of students walking has risen from near 300 to over 500! School administration continues to stress to students and families that walking and cycling needs to be part of their daily lives including the trip to and from school.
“The kids can walk here in 5 minutes; and they always beat the bus“
Congratulations to Our Lady of Lourdes on job well done!
Recent Comments