As International Walk to School Day/Month takes place world wide throughout October, New York City and the rest of the U.S. will celebrate the event tomorrow.
The sixth annual International Walk to School Day aims to increase public awareness for creating safer streets for students everywhere.
As part of the celebration, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) and P.S. 197 students launched “We’re Walking Here NYC” competition today.
They and other road safety organizations walked on Fifth Avenue and 135th Street in Harlem, near a recent DOT safety redesign.
City schools are invited to design posters that promote walking as a safe, healthy and practical mode of transportation.
And students citywide will take on this question: “If you could teach people one thing about walking in New York City, what would it be?”
Over 1 million New York City students walk to school and around their neighborhoods every day.
New York is a city of walkers. One-third of trips are made on foot, the same portion that are made by transit and car.
Registration and contest guidelines are available online. Entries for the contest must be received by midnight, Nov. 1, 2011.
The school with the best overall design wins a $1,000 grant from the Safe Streets Fund, a public-private partnership dedicated to citywide safe streets .
The winning design will be used in future DOT safety educational materials and gear, such as T-shirts.
