Mayor Ballard, U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood and Rep. Carson to Participate in “Safe Routes to School” Event

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Mayor Greg Ballard, and U.S. Rep. Andre Carson will participate in a local Safe Routes to School program by walking to school with St. Thomas Aquinas students and their families on one of their “walking school bus” routes on Friday, April 23. The Safe Routes to School program is part of the Department of Transportation’s commitment to livable communities and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.

The Safe Routes to School program encourages walking and biking to school by making routes safer and more appealing for students and their parents. St. Thomas Aquinas received a Safe Routes to School grant in 2007 and now operates two daily “walking school bus” routes as well as three other routes that operate two or three times a week. Walking school buses are operated by parent volunteers who supervise each route, with the goal of alleviating parent concerns about safety and encouraging more students to walk and bike to school.

Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists, also will lead a “bike train” to school that same morning. He will meet students and grandparents at the corner of Pennsylvania Street and 58^th Street at 7:30 a.m. Information on the school’s SRTS program can be found at http://www.staindy.org/school/section.php?page=3-84.