Many schools in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Montecito will be joining schools around the United States to celebrate National Walk & Roll to School Day on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. 

Thirty years ago more than 66% of all children walked or biked to school. Today, only 13% of American children do so. The consequences are worrisome: sedentary lifestyles; an increase in health issues such as child obesity, diabetes and heart disease; and decreased independence. Walk & Roll to School Day is a good place to start reversing these alarming trends.

Walk & Roll to School events emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian and bicycle safety, traffic congestion, environmental degradation and they build connections between families, schools and the broader community. Walk & Roll to School Day often becomes a catalyst for on-going efforts to increase safe walking and bicycling all of the time.

The event is being organized through ‘Safe Routes to School’, a program of MOVE Santa Barbara County, formerly SBBIKE+COAST. Through its Safe Routes to School program, MOVE Santa Barbara County brings together community partners, including the City of Goleta, to focus on barriers associated with access to schools and to increase the number of children walking and bicycling to school.