Walking School Bus App a Huge Success!

A few months ago we had the opportunity to learn about the Walking School Bus app. Now that school is out for the summer for most kids, we can take a look back at the number of people that used it this past school year. Needless to say, it has been a huge success!

Thanks to UDOT’s efforts and this app, walking and biking to school is safer and easier than ever.

Here are some of the success stats of the Walking School Bus app since August 2014:

• 500+ Walking School Bus groups created
• 91,000 car trips reduced
• 88,000+ miles walked
• 8.8 million calories burned
• 37 million car emissions saved

Parents and students who contributed to these figures were also entered to win prizes as part of the Spring Walk ’N Win campaign (March 15-April 30). 

• One Walking School Bus group, the Walking Buddies, won breakfast with the Utah Jazz Bear and got to walk to school with him, where UDOT awarded the school and PTA $500. I’ve attached some photos—it was an incredible event!
• Three parents won gift certificates for an overnight stay at the Blue Boar Inn.
• Three students won bikes or scooters and helmets.

The Walking School Bus app has been nationally recognized, and other states and cities are looking into implementing it as well.

The app has received four national awards for innovation and impact. Several cities, counties, and even states are looking into replicating UDOT’s efforts and adopting the same Walking School Bus program. 

Que up for Walk More In Four this fall.

Students across Utah can win prizes just for walking and biking to school and manually logging their trips and/or using the Walking School Bus app to track their progress.

· Last year, 4,200 Utah Students Participated

· In 2014, West Elementary in Tooele won the Grand Prize of $500 for their school

More information about these programs can be found at www.udot.utah.gov/snap/ and on the UDOT SNAP Facebook and Twitter pages. A link to the video can also be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3t0HY7N3aw

About the Walking School Bus app:

Thanks to the Walking School Bus app, more students in Utah are walking and biking to school than ever before.

UDOT's Walking School Bus app is a forward-thinking digital tool that makes walking and biking to school easier and safer than ever. Using the app, parents to search by elementary school for existing walking groups, create new groups and invite neighbors to join, plan walks to and from school, assign parent leaders to walk with students on a given day, and message within the app to coordinate walks and details. It also alerts parents when students have arrived safely at school. It's like a carpool without the car!