The school year is underway, and families across Peterborough are busy packing lunches, setting alarms, and adjusting to new schedules. Safe to say, the return to school is always a busy time, but it’s also a big opportunity to reset habits and build healthier routines that can last all year.
National studies have shown that only one in three Canadian children meet the recommended daily physical activity guidelines. Active School Travel Peterborough (AST Ptbo) encourages everyone to consider the trip to and from school as an easy, built-in way to help children get moving.
It can be about more than just getting from point A to point B — it can be about health, connection, and increased safety.
Established in 1999, AST Ptbo aims to address a vicious cycle: growing neighbourhood traffic made walking and rolling to school feel less viable, leading to more parents opting to drive children to school instead, which led to even more traffic.
AST Ptbo collaborates with schools and families to implement programs and projects supporting its vision: that all students have the opportunity to safely walk, bike, or bus to and from school as a part of their daily school experience.
The idea is simple but powerful: when children have the chance to walk or wheel to school, they arrive more alert, ready to learn, and energized for the day ahead. Parents or guardians, in turn, spend less time idling in long drop-off lines, while the community benefits from fewer cars on the road, less air pollution, and safer streets.
A cultural shift is most successful when it grows from within. Teachers, principals, and parent champions can play a major role in reshaping perspectives around school travel.
Encouraging families to try different travel modes to get to school — by organizing a walking group, supporting a classroom school travel challenge, hosting a community Let’s Bike! event, or simply reminding families of the benefits of active travel — goes a long way.
Through offering promotional materials, custom signage, communications assets, cycling education resources, and more, AST Ptbo can help co-create campaigns tailored to a particular school or community need.
In 2024, for example, a Kaawaate East City Public School parent reached out to AST Ptbo for help getting a bike bus started.
Also known as a bike train, a bike bus is a group of people biking together along a route with scheduled stops to pick up more riders. The parents in charge were provided with a toolkit, offering best practices. The following year, AST Ptbo designed and printed recruitment posters, so that they didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Other recent projects include a school travel trip tracking campaign at St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School and a custom signage and communications project encouraging Park and Stride at Prince of Wales Public School.
School communities can also celebrate and encourage active and sustainable travel by hosting seasonal celebration days: International Walk to School Day, Winter Walk Day, or Bike to School Day, for example.
Grade 8 educators can request a transit orientation workshop for their students, where a transit bus arrives at the curb to educate students on the ins and outs of riding the bus.
AST Ptbo invites everyone to find their own way to be part of the change, and teachers, principals, or school staff members to consider how AST programs could fit into a classroom or broader school culture.
Parents or caregivers might think about starting a walking group, trying a bike bus, or simply choosing to “Park ‘n’ Stride” — park a block away and walk the last stretch together.
Every step helps.
For more information and to access resources, visit greenup.on.ca/active-school-travel-peterborough/ or email activeschooltravel@greenup.on.ca.
