Pedibus

Late last year, in the town of Sfantu Gheorghe, the Pedibus project was launched, dedicated to children who go to school on foot, starting at the beginning of the current school year. This is a project under which primary school kids are accompanied to school by two adults, forming organized groups. This project is meant to promote exercise, health, and fun.

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 06.10.2021, 20:41

Székely Kincső, a local council member with Sf. Gheorghe Town Hall, and the program coordinator, told us where the idea came from:

“This program is a Town Hall initiative, which motivates pupils in town to walk to school, because walking is the best way, and healthiest way, to start the day. This program is an initiative of a Canadian ecologist, and has been working really well in Europe. This program started in our town on May 17 of this year, and ended on June 27.”

Between September 20 and 24 this year, once the school year started, over 30 physicians, nurses, and orderlies from almost all the major departments in the Sf. Gheorghe Hospital have become the drivers of the Pedibus. The local community is proud that all these people are taking the time to do this kind of volunteering, as Székely Kincső told us:

“On the first day, we had 60 kids involved, and this week we had as many as 80. The number grows every day. We have volunteers, and we are trying to organize every day of the week. When we started the program, it began with gym teachers in town. We also had some of our colleagues from the press. This is great for parents, who can know that their children are safe. When we started this school year, we had physicians and nurses from the hospital, then we had actors, another week we had local council members and politicians. We are trying to group them by themes, but any volunteer may join in, because this is a great program for everyone!”.

Council member Székely Kincső told us that the kids have really taken to this program:

“Kids are delighted and happy. We have a lot of feedback from schools, because when they get to school, the children are happy, and you can tell that they get to school with a clear mind. Regular exercise helps them learn, and develop social skills, but also increases emotional control and self-confidence. Over the last few years, more and more children are being driven to school in cars, and that affects their sense of independence, but also crowds traffic and increases pollution around schools. This was one of the main motivation for starting this program, reducing crowding and traffic. The Pedibus program is an alternative for taking pupils to school, and providing a means to exercise.”

Pedibus is pollution free, and increases socialization. Another advantage is that it is always on time, as our interlocutor was happy to tell us:

“Each morning we have five gathering points, marked with our logo on the pavement, and each parent and child knows where to wait for the Pedibus. Each morning, whether it shows or rains, we are there. When we ourselves were kids, we walked to school. And, as a bonus, if it rains when we walk to school, it looks great, because the streets are filled with colorful umbrellas. In this school year, we tried to motivate the children, we made albums with stickers, and we started each and everyone of them with a smiley face sticker. Now, kids can have the possibility to collect these stickers throughout the year, and at the end we hand out prizes, such as a mug, or roller skate backpacks, we really make it worth it for them.”

Although this is a program in its early days, it is definitely fail safe.