FAQ'S
Q: Will children and adults participating in The Walking Bus be offered road safety training?
A: A Road Safety Officer or Police Officer provides a road safety training session for ‘parent-drivers’ and children enrolled in the program when first launched and at other times when necessary (such as the establishment of a new ‘bus’ route). For new children joining the program, the current volunteers provide informal training when on The Walking Bus. New volunteers also receive training from one of the Coordinators of The Walking Bus program.
Q: What if it is
raining?
A: The Walking Bus travels in all types of weather. Wet weather arrangements are organised inadvanced by participating parents. If it is raining, parents should ensure their child has a raincoat and/or an umbrella.
Q: Will the Walking Bus wait for us if we are late?
A: The Walking Bus operates like a normal bus and is unable to wait for those children running late.
The Walking Bus operates on a roster and timetable so it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure children are at the designated bus stop on time. Unfortunately, if a child misses the Walking Bus, it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure their child travels safely to and from school.
Q: Is The Walking Bus a new concept?
A: Actually Walking Buses are operating successfully in Australia, as well as across Europe, Canada, United States ofAmerica, and New Zealand. A recent Google search revealed about 15,3000,000 entries to the Walking Bus.
Q: What if the school students live too far away from the school to be able to walk?
A: The project works best with students who live within 1.5km or 30 minutes easy walking distance of the school. If enough children & parent volunteers live further than1.5km from the school, the ‘bus’ route can be extended. Parents are also able to drive their children to the starting point of a route so that their child can still be part of the program and to also lower traffic congestion around the school.
Q: Why does the The Walking Bus operate at my school but does not come near where I live?
A: The Walking Bus is a volunteer based program so we can only operate a ‘bus’ route when we have enough volunteers to start one. If you are able to volunteer, let us know and we will try to find other volunteers who live near you to try and establish another ‘bus’ route.
How To Join?
Joining The Walking Bus is easy. Routes are established along the streets most used by the parents and children at each school. You can either sign up to volunteer as a parent-driver or enrol your children to be part of the ‘bus’.
To join The Walking Bus you’ll need to first find out whether The Walking Bus is operating at your school. Check out the homepage on this website and follow the links to your school. If a bus is currently operating at your school, then either complete the online form by following the link below, or fill out the forms at the schools offices.
If your school is not currently running The Walking Bus, please contact us and we will look into establishing The Walking Bus at your school!