Across Oregon and Washington, communities are observing Walk and Bike to School Day. Events are designed to encourage kids to take a safe bike or pedestrian route to school.In Vancouver, kids walked a one-mile route to Hough Elementary. Cascade Middle School in Bend kicked off a weekly walk-to-school day.
In Southeast Portland, kids from Abernathy Elementary raced past a roundabout on bikes and scooters, as parents and "sibs" cheered them on. Mia Birk is an Abernathy parent, and a long-time bike advocate. She says there are ways to improve safety along school routes.
"We have a toolkit of engineering tricks to make it safer for kids to bike or walk to school - everything from bike lanes to crosswalks and fixing little things that make a difference," she said. But Birk says parents have to be on board, and break habits of driving kids everywhere. Birk says 40 percent of Abernathy students now bike or walk to school.