News Release

For Immediate Release                                        

Contact:     Beth Gorman     (520) 740-3343

Tucson, Arizona (September 22, 2005) - Thousands of parents and children will be walking to school on Wednesday, October 5th, to increase pedestrian safety and improve air quality. The Pima County Department of Transportation’s (PCDOT) Bicycling and Pedestrian Program, Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ), and the Tucson Department of Transportation (TDOT) are encouraging children, parents, guardians, and local officials to participate in the 9th annual “International Walk to School Day@ on Wednesday morning. Walking and bicycling also improve health and provide parents with an opportunity to spend additional time with their children. 

In 2004, students from 37 countries participated in International Walk to School Day. Last year, over 5,000 students in Pima County walked or bicycled to schools that were registered on the www.walktoschool.org website. The website provides information on how to hold a Walk to School Day and why it is so important to improve student safety near our schools. This year, thousands of children will be walking or riding bicycles to schools and learning pedestrian and bicycling safety, improving their health through increased exercise, and cleaning the air by skipping a trip in the family car. 

“From an air quality perspective, driving children to school increases traffic congestion and air pollution on roads around school campuses,” said Beth Gorman of PDEQ. “Walking or bicycling to school eliminates those short, high-polluting car trips and keeps our air healthy to breathe,” she continued. “When there are more adults and children walking and bicycling on our roads, the community becomes accustomed to their presence,” said Melissa Antol of TDOT. “Teaching children to cross streets at marked crossings, and providing well-designed, accessible crosswalks will improve safety for children as well as drivers,” she continued. Matt Zoll, of PCDOT, said “Currently only 13 percent of all school children walk or bike to school, down from over 66 percent in the early 1970s.” Zoll also said “About 24 percent of morning traffic is attributed to parents driving their children to school.” If you would like additional information, please contact Robin at 740-3349 or Donna at 740-6941. Schools can register at www.walktoschool.org.

How Children are Different in Traffic
(Excerpts from the Partnership for a Walkable America information)

• Children don’t think about getting hurt.

• Kids are impulsive and impatient. They are prone to dart into traffic on a whim.

• Children have trouble judging traffic speed, gaps in traffic, or whether a car is coming, going, or standing still.

• Kids have a limited ability to detect traffic in their side vision.

• Children have trouble understanding that a car can't stop as quickly as they can. 

• Kids are smaller than adults, and have trouble seeing traffic and being seen by drivers.

• Children often think that if they can see a car, then the driver sees them, even if they are standing behind a shrub or a parked car.

Amazing Facts About Awesome Air!

• Air is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% carbon dioxide and trace amounts of other gases.

• On average, people take 30,000 breaths each day!

• People breathe about 2 gallons of air every minute!

• Most of our air pollution in Pima County is caused by the use of motor vehicles.

• Tucsonans drive over 23,000,000 miles each day.

• Every 35 miles you drive puts 1 pound of air pollution into the air you breathe.

• Approximately 60% of our air pollution is caused by motor vehicle use.

• Skip those short trips! A cold engine emits more pollution and reduces efficiency by 80%.

Drive Less for Healthier Air
Walk Your Children to School

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