Bicycle Network: National Ride2School Day

2013 

Record numbers of students ditch the car for two wheels

2012

Well done to the 1,145 schools that signed up to celebrate National Ride2School Day!

Over 140,000 students took the bike, scooter, skateboard or their own two feet to school on Friday 23 March 2012.

Check out our Flickr and Facebook pages for even more pics!

National Ride2School Day was a huge success!

On Friday 23 March 2012 over 140,000 students all across the country left the car at home and used their bike, scooter, skateboard or their own two feet to get to school.  

Check out these fantastic highlights:

• The event attracted a 1100% growth in the Northern Territory!  Last year's event saw one school register to take part... this year, 11 schools celebrated.  Well Done NT!

• Trinity Beach State School attempted a world record of the largest ever group to ride to school in a bike bus formation.  The school counted a whopping 639 bikes!  It is now in the hands of the masters at Guiness World Records to confirm their achievememt... stay tuned!

• We have heard from many schools that celebrated by hosting a healthy breakfast, parading decorated bikes and inviting special guest speakers to their school. 

• Over fifteen Members of Victorian Parliament attended schools in their electorate to show their support.

National Ride2School Day 2012 done... what next?

Every journey begins with a single step and if you’re looking for a great way to get more of your school’s students riding and walking more often throughout the entire school year, being part of National Ride2School Day was the ideal first step.

Step 1 – An ANNUAL celebration
This is the perfect way for many new riders to get a taste of just how easy and fun it can be to get to and from school by bike, scooter, skateboard or on foot. Even though National Ride2School Day is over for this year, you can host a Ride2School Day at any time. Some schools feel that holding a Ride2School Day once per year is not enough. We have heard of many schools that love Ride2School Days so much, they hold an event once per term!

Step 2 – ANNUAL to MONTHLY - Join the Ride2School Program
Did you know that there is a year round Ride2School program? National Ride2School Day is just one event, but it is a great first start to joining thousands of schools around the country that are a part of the broader Ride2School program.
Click here to join the Ride2School program - It's quick, easy and free!

Step 3 – ANNUAL to MONTHLY - Enter HandsUp! results
The schools that get the best out of the program enter HandsUp! results each month to track their performance.
HandsUp! is an active travel survey which helps the Ride2School team keep track of how each school is travelling and lets us tailor our strategies accordingly. Depending on the circumstances we also use HandsUp! data to lobby government to improve facilities - like paths, crossings and bike sheds - for riders and walkers.

Step 4 – MONTHLY to WEEKLY
Now you’ve got a monthly active travel habit established, the next challenge is to make it weekly.  Simply choose one day of the week (Wednesday works for us but there’s no reason why it can’t be any day of the week) and make that the day when you encourage students to walk or wheel to school.

Guess what? If you’ve followed these four steps, you’ve established a culture of active travel at your school. You’ve no doubt found – like we have time and time again – that kids love to ride to school. It’s something they want to do. The good news is, it’s good for them.

Well done everyone!