Commute Options secures $100,000 in grants to expand Walking School Bus program

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Commute Options was recently awarded two grants totaling $100,000 -- one for $50,000 from Oregon Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School innovation grant, and another $50,000 from Central Oregon Health Council, through their Impact Incentives Fund Match.

The grant funding will go towards expanding and reshaping Commute Options’ Walking School Bus program, in an effort to make the program more impactful, sustainable and replicable to encourage more widespread adoption of the program.

A Walking School Bus is a group of students walking to and from school on a planned route with an adult Leader. Much like a school bus, as the students walk to school, they can pick up more classmates along the way.

Funding will go to cover paid leaders (currently leaders are volunteers) and marketing efforts to help add consistency to the walking school bus routes. These leaders will be trained to provide walking and biking education, based on Safe Routes to School curriculum, to the students during the walking school bus.

Finally, Commute Options will create a guide outlining the steps to setting up a Walking School Bus Program under the paid leader model, which will include attachments of the various lessons plans/activities throughout the year. This guide will direct all Oregonian Safe Routes to School coordinators and school administrators through the process of establishing a sustainable Walking School Bus program.

Commute Options is a nonprofit based out of Bend, dedicated to transportation options that connect people of all ages to the places they go – employees to their workplaces, students to their schools, and neighbors within their communities. They champion active transportation and infrastructure improvements, fostering essential partnerships, and educating the community on transportation options.