![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_2696-2-1600x1171.jpg\")
Evan Magers, right, was surrounded by kids deliberating on the choice of pencils they would receive for participating in the county\u2019s transit data collection project. Credit: Jose Fermoso\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\nIt turns out walking and biking to school is way more exciting if all your friends are doing it. It\u2019s even more fun when you get a free pencil that changes colors once you arrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how many kids at Peralta Elementary School felt yesterday morning when they joined International Walk & Roll to School Day, a campaign that encourages students, parents, and their caregivers to use green modes of transit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to get the word out about it every year, and it\u2019s kind of exciting,\u201d said Evan Magers, a Peralta parent who organized the school\u2019s contingent. He walked to school with his daughter, who rollerbladed.<\/p>\n
At each school entrance, children were given stickers to add to a board in the courtyard, indicating how they made their way to school. There was a slot for people who walked, another for those who \u201crolled in\u201d (including cycling), for those who carpooled, used transit, and, finally, those who drove without carpooling. That information will be gathered and sent to the Alameda County Transportation Commission, which will use it to better understand infrastructure needs around schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Remy Goldsmith, a spokesperson for the ACTC, said 29 schools registered to participate in the event yesterday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program, funded through the county\u2019s Measure BB sales tax, aims to get kids out to enjoy their environment rather than staring at screens while they get driven to school by their parents. A startling statistic on the campaign\u2019s website says that in one generation, the \u201cnumber of kids walking and bicycling to school has dropped from 71% to 18%.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan Magers, right, was surrounded by kids deliberating on the choice of pencils they would receive for participating in the county\u2019s transit data collection project. Credit: Jose Fermoso\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
International Walk & Roll to School Day began in 1997 in Chicago as National Walk Our Children to School Day, an initiative led by the Partnership for a Walkable America in conjunction with the National Safety Council, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that advocates for children\u2019s health and safety. The event, which organizers say was modeled on similar efforts in the United Kingdom<\/a>, quickly expanded nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Oakland, the event has been part of the school calendar since 2006. Other school systems in Alameda County have participated for almost as long, with support from the county\u2019s Safe Roads to School Program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dozens of students at the Rockridge elementary school participated. According to Magers, the kids were obsessed with the purple pencils that changed to pink when rubbed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOnce the purple ones are gone\u2014watch out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some students bounced around trading the pencils, while others used them as pretend swords or carefully placed them inside their tiny backpacks.<\/p>\n Once all the kids had put their stickers up on the board, it became clear that most of the students \u2014 96 of them \u2014 had walked. Another 45 rolled in on wheels, such as a bike or scooter. Three came in using mass transit, while eight carpooled and 47 kids were driven in by car.\u00a0<\/p>\n Matt Glaser told us that he has been taking his kids to Peralta for the last four years through a mix of biking, walking, and driving. An avid cyclist throughout his life, Glaser created a map a few years ago for other parents outlining the safest routes around the school. Like many Oakland elementary schools, Peralta is surrounded by dangerous arterials \u2014 in this case Telegraph, Shattuck, and Alcatraz avenues.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI\u2019m one of those folks who believes that any amount of biking, if you can do it, once a month or a couple times a month is great,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the things I noticed when I was talking to parents about why they don\u2019t ride or walk is that they didn\u2019t feel very safe crossing certain intersections or on certain streets.\u201d<\/p>\n Glaser said that even with his cycling experience, his kids have taken some time to get comfortable biking in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n If more parents and kids use the same routes, as denoted on his map, Glaser said, walking or biking to school would become much safer, as there is \u201csafety in numbers.\u201d That\u2019s the same idea behind the \u201cwalking school buses<\/a>\u201d that other Oakland parents have created, where whole families walk together to school.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three years ago, The Oaklandside found<\/a> that parents who took their kids to school on a road off International Avenue chose to drive them instead of walking, even when they lived only a few blocks away, simply because they considered it much safer.<\/p>\n In recent years, the city has been adding and improving road infrastructure around schools<\/a>, which has helped slow traffic, including investing in safer crossings<\/a>. Part of it, city transportation officials have said, is about equity: they prioritize projects in areas with the most children and that have been historically underserved.<\/p>\n This morning, most of the kids and parents we talked to said their school felt pretty safe to walk or bike to, as it is tucked into a residential neighborhood. One parent told us that their whole family used to walk to school together when both of their kids attended Peralta, but that it\u2019s become harder as the kids get older and go to separate schools, often leading them to drive.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDepending on where you live, walking can cause some anxiety,\u201d that parent said. \u201cWe could use more signage for when you have to cross during your walking commute. I don\u2019t think you need a crossing guard at every intersection, but better crosswalks, as some are faded.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_2701-1600x1091.jpg\")
Most kids and their families walked to Peralta Elementary School for the special event. Credit: Jose Fermoso\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_2703-1600x1200.jpg\")
The color-changing pencils were a hot item during this year\u2019s National Walk & Roll to School Day. Credit: Jose Fermoso\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n