Safe Routes to School

Let’s celebrate Safe Routes to School and Walk and Roll to School Day in Chapel Hill on Oct 7^th!

Walk and Roll to School Day is Wednesday, October 7^th. This annual event encourages students and their families to experience and celebrate the joy of walking and biking to school. Students and families in Chapel Hill schools have been celebrating walking, biking, and rolling to school since 2005!

Are you hosting a Walk and Roll to School Day event at your school?

Register your event with the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

Not sure how to celebrate with a formal event? These tools can help:

• Visit the Safe Routes Partnership page
• Visit the Walk, Bike, & Roll to School page
• Or, check out the resources listed on this page under Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day Events

On September 19 and October 3, we're hosting Open Chapel Hill Days, a time to meet Town staff and learn about your local government! These events will feature behind-the-scenes tours, hands-on activities, and cool demonstrations that are fun for the whole family. There's a different location and agenda for each day, so be sure to join us for both.

Saturday, September 19th on Millhouse Road

There are many events happening at our facilities along Millhouse Rd. Enjoy a free shuttle from Eubanks Park & Ride to each site.

Police Department (7300 Millhouse Rd., #150, Chapel Hill, NC 27516)

• Fingerprinting demo
• Emergency Command Center tours
• Security Whack-a-Mole
• Pop-up library

Chapel Hill Transit (6900 Millhouse Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27516)

• Maintenance Bay tour
• Long-bus mini-museum
• Dispatch simulation

Public Works (6850 Millhouse Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27516)

• Make a Caddisfly Case
• Touch-a-Truck
• OWASA

Saturday October 3rd at Town Hall

Town Hall (405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514)

• "Be the Mayor" selfie station
• Affordable Housing quiz game
• Bike blender
• E-bike demonstration
• How to find a job with the Town
• Rest and Relaxation Station with the Town Ombuds
• Play Plinko with Parks and Recreation
• Large outdoor games
• Budget game
• Pop-up library

The Safe Routes to School Team had a great time throwing a bike party at Ephesus Elementary last weekend. The weather held out, and lots of school friends joined us to ride around in a pop-up Traffic Garden and make a smoothie using pedal power!

Staff shared information on EVerywhere to Everywhere Greenways, the Town's Climate Action Plan, and more.

Thanks to Principal Boyer and the school for having us this year, and thank you to all the Town staff, Parents/Caregivers and kids who made it a great time!

Bring your bikes, scooters, skateboards, and helmets to the third annual Safe Routes to School Roll and Stroll at Ephesus Elementary School on Saturday, August 22.

The Roll and Stroll is a free, family-friendly block party that celebrates our community's love of walking, rolling, and strolling! Everyone is welcome and encouraged to walk or roll to the event!

It'll be packed with fun for all ages:

• Games

• Activities including a traffic garden

• Swag

• Free Pelican's SnoBalls

At the event, you can also learn about Wheels of Wellness, our bicycle safety program for children ages 4 to 14. Our team can also talk with parents and guardians about safe ways to get to school.

Staff from many Town departments will also be there to share information and gather feedback about projects related to Climate Action, Everywhere to Everywhere Greenways and more.

Our Safe Routes to School staff within our Office of Mobility and Greenways organizes the Roll and Stroll and brings it to a different school each August.

The SRTS Coordinator wrapped up spring walking, biking, and rolling counts last week. Thank you to the volunteers who came out to help.

Based on our observations, roughly 10% of the student population in Chapel Hill walks, bikes, or rolls to school in the mornings! This means that around 800 school-aged kids are using public streets, sidewalks, and trails each school day!

🚲🚦🚸

Twice a year, we go to every school in Chapel Hill at morning drop-off, to observe and to count students who are walking, biking, and rolling to school. The counts are manual counts, supported by the SRTS Coordinator and volunteers, and these numbers represent only a *snapshot* of walking and biking at each school. (True volume estimates require large investments of time and resources.)

We use this information to answer these questions:

• What is the long-term trend for walking and biking to school across the Town of Chapel Hill?
• Where are students walking and/or biking?
• How are students using public streets/public spaces?
• Who is walking or biking?

This information helps to inform conversations and planning with NCDOT, Public Works, and other departments / agencies that are stakeholders in how kids get around Town. We will share more in an annual report to be released later this year.

This morning, we celebrated biking and rolling to school at Scroggs Elementary in honor of Bike to School Day!

Don't miss our upcoming events at the Community Center that continue the Bike Month celebration:

May 8: Movie in the Park - We’ll watch a short film about biking then screen our feature, E.T.

May 16: RollFest 2026 - A big party for all things on wheels.

Bike & Roll to School Day is Wednesday, May 6th. It’s an annual event that encourages students and their families to experience and celebrate the joy of walking and biking to school. Students and families in Chapel Hill schools have been celebrating walking, biking, and rolling to school since 2005!

Are you hosting a Bike and Roll to School Day event at your school?
Register your event with the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

Not sure how to celebrate with a formal event? These tools can help:

1. Bike Buses: Let's Bike to School Together

2. Build your Bike & Roll to School Day

3. Bike & Roll Day Toolkit

We have other ways you can promote walking and rolling to school.

1. Share the flyers, which are available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Burmese, and Karen.
2. Yard signs to promote the event. We’ll drop them at each school, starting Friday, May 1st

The Safe Routes to School coordinator recently participated in two middle school STEAM days, taking several groups on a walk audit. If your middle schooler comes home asking about "curb radii", we may know why.

Bike & Roll to School Day is around the corner! The date this year is Wednesday, May 6th!

What is Bike & Roll to School Day?

Bike & Roll to School Day is a day to celebrate riding a bike, walking, or rolling to school with your school community. It usually takes place on the first Wednesday of the first full week in May, but each school celebrates in a way that works best for them.

Celebrating Bike & Roll to School Day promotes Safe Routes to School and getting outside to bike, walk, and roll together. Biking to School events can lead to year-round healthy, active travel at your school!

Learn More:

Safe Routes to School is a national program that promotes biking, walking, and rolling to school. Safe Routes to School events take many forms across the country. Some schools or groups set up a time to meet at a remote location and walk, ride, and roll to school together. Others greet riders, walkers, and rollers with fanfare as they arrive at school that day. There are many ways to have fun on Bike &Roll to School Day.

Here are a few resources that can help you as you think about your own Bike to School Day event:

• Planning Your Program in 4 Easy Steps - Bike and Walk to School Day 101.
• How to Plan Walk, Bike & Roll to School - National Center for Safe Routes to School offers tips, a getting-started guide, and a way to plan your event in 7 days!
• Bike & Roll Day Toolkit - Includes information on promoting your event.

Contact the Town of Chapel Hill’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator for more information: Alyson West, Email: awest@chapelhillnc.gov.

Be sure to REGISTER your event, no matter how big or small, here!