Walking school buses poised for growth thanks to PCEF grant

If you’re reading these words you’ve almost certainly heard of bike buses — the pedal-powered phenomenon that’s sweeping Portland and the nation. But there’s another version of the bike bus that doesn’t includes bikes. It’s known as a walking school bus. The idea is exactly the same, but instead of bikes swarming the street, kids and parents stick to sidewalks.

They don’t get as much media attention as their bicycling brethren, but walking school buses are about to take off in Portland thanks to a $964,000 grant to nonprofit Oregon Walks from the Portland Clean Energy Fund, which is run by the city’s Bureau of Planning & Sustainability. PCEF raises revenue from a 1% tax on the Portland-based retail sales of large corporations. The Oregon Walks grant will be spread over three years.

I reached out to Oregon Walks to learn more and heard back from Project Manager Sara Etter.

Etter said Oregon Walks identified a need for the students who live close enough to school (within 1-1.5 miles) so they aren’t eligible for a ride on the free yellow school bus, don’t have the option of being driven to school, and live in a place with infrastructure challenges that make walking alone risky.

Those factors, combined with the knowledge that driving emits greenhouse gas emissions, removes an opportunity for physical activity, and contributes to chaotic school drop-off and pick-up lines, made wanting to encourage more walking school buses a no-brainer. “Plus, it’s fun!” added Etter, in an email to BikePortland this week.

So, what will the money be spent on?

“Our grant will fund the widespread deployment of walking school buses across Portland,” Etter explained. “The funds will be used primarily for staffing to organize and manage the program as well as to hire walk leaders/chaperones. Some funding will also go toward the purchase of needed materials for the walks and events, and other costs such as professional development and marketing.”

The idea is that every student who lives inside the busing radius will have a scheduled, adult-supported trip to school they can count on. The vision is to have clearly identified routes, meeting sites, and pickup times. The adult chaperone will walk the route and lead the group while teaching the kids basic walking safety tips along the way. Being able to pay these chaperones is a core tenant of Oregon Walks’ program. “Staffing the chaperones with paid members of the community makes this a professionalized transportation team,” Etter said. It’s also an important equity issue, she added, “Because it signals that student safety and attendance for those students within walking distance of school matters just as much as those students who receive busing services.”

Etter is already setting up partnerships with with housing providers for pickup locations and to encourage participation in the program. The first walking school buses will be on routes in east Portland in areas that have lower quality walking infrastructure and that serve a higher percentage of Black students and other students of color as well as families that have low incomes.

For schools that aren’t lucky enough to partner with Oregon Walks, there’s another avenue to explore. When the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 3104 in 2023, they authorized school district staff to seek reimbursement from the Oregon Department of Education for expenses related to walking school buses, bike buses, and even crossing guards (after a plan is submitted and approved by ODE). I’ve asked ODE if anyone has taken advantage of that program and will update this post when I hear back.

For Etter and her team, there’s a lot of work already happening to get the first buses up and running: safety and liability protocols, recruitment strategies, bus leader trainings, route planning and so on. She hopes to have the first walking school bus up and running sometime next year.

— OregonWalks.org