TransLink Supports International Walk to School Week

September 24, 2012

Kids ride free Oct. 8-12

Once again this year, TransLink is putting its support behind International Walk to School Week (iWalk) by offering students free rides on its services during the week of October 8-12.

TransLink supports iWalk each year with the free transit, which will be available to children in kindergarten and elementary school and high school students with a valid GoCard.

“We've supported iWalk since 2006,” says TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis. "It's an important initiative that encourages students to think of all the options they have to get around the region aside from the car. It's a great opportunity to help prepare another generation of TravelSmart kids.”

TransLink, through TravelSmart, offers TravelSmart for Schools, an in-school program that helps children in grades 6 and 7 become more aware of alternative travel choices. More information can be found at TravelSmart or by calling 604-216-3299 or email info@travelsmart.ca.

The offer of free transit is good anytime between October 8 and 12, and not necessarily for going to and from school. In past years, teachers have been making use of it to take classes on field trips. But it’s important to note that TransLink moves over a million trips per day, so there are some tips teachers might find useful:

1. It’s all about timing: go during “off-peak” hours – between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
2. Do your homework: Use TransLink’s online resources including the Trip Planner or the Mobile Website with real-time Next Bus. Planning the trip could be a fun class project in itself.
3. Do more homework: find out what other teachers in your school are planning trips at the same time and what route(s) they plan to take. 
4. A class divided?: If your school is in an area with a relatively high frequency of bus service – or you plan to use SkyTrain, consider splitting the class, with one group taking the following bus or train.
Regardless of the time of day, we can expect to see more people on the transit system during this week, so TransLink encourages regular customers to be patient and welcome our new transit users.