Walking Bus

Short Summary

Like a real bus, the “Walking Bus” takes a predefined route to school with fixed stops and departures where one after another child board the bus. But the difference is: every passenger is on foot.

Context

More and more parents drive their children to school every morning. This so-called parent’s taxi does not only lead to a chaotic situation in front of the school, but also to a lack of movement and communication for the children.

Transformational Measures and Activities

The children walk together in a small group to school on a predefined route. In the morning they meet at their “bus stop” and then start walking together to school. The group is accompanied by two parents (taking regular turns with the other parents involved). Incidencially, the children learn how to interact safely with traffic by starting each day with fresh air and physical activity. Littly by little, they improve their self-confidence and safety on the road, so that the they can soon continue their daily way to school on their own.

Results

The participation in this project increases continuously. In 2016 alone, the “Walking Bus” was implemented in 47 primary schools (7 of them for the first time) reaching approx. 700 children and their parents.

Challenges, opportunities and transferability

The already proven concept can be easily transferred to other schools.

In Depth

http://www.muenchen.de/leben/bildung/schule/bus-mit-fuessen.html (German)