Walking is something nearly all of us can do. Every journey we take starts and ends with walking (or rolling), even if we link it with another mode along the way.
Why then, do conversations about active and sustainable mobility regularly overlook walking (and rolling)? From media stories to street design, public space planning, and municipal and provincial policy discussions, attention is often focused on more visible modes such as cycling, micro-mobility, public transit, and car share. While important, these options are not always accessible to everyone.
Walkability and investments in walkable communities benefit everyone, yet walking remains an invisible part of daily life. Safe and accessible walking networks help ensure people can reach education, employment, healthcare, recreation, and community services. As new municipal councils settle in following October’s election, now is the perfect time to integrate walkability into local active transportation mandates.
Just as important is the connection we build with our communities at a walking pace. For children, walking is how they learn about their surroundings and gain confidence moving independently. For older adults, it helps maintain social connections and independence. For all of us, walking allows us to truly experience the people, places, and nature around us.
Walking creates the moments that strengthen communities: saying hello to neighbours, chatting about a new garden, running into friends at the local café, or hearing birds singing during a morning walk. These simple interactions are often what make a neighbourhood feel like home.
We also know the benefits of walking for physical and mental health. If something as simple as walking 10,000 steps a day can support healthy habits, cardiovascular health, and wellbeing, how can we give walking a greater voice in our cities and make the invisible more visible?
Walk30: Start every (school) day by taking a step
From our first steps onward, walking is part of daily life, yet it is often overlooked in how public spaces are planned. For children especially, walking to and from daycare and school can help build lifelong healthy habits.
Research consistently shows that children who walk to school arrive calmer, are more attentive in class, experience fewer sick days, and often achieve better academic outcomes. For some, a short walk to school can also contribute significantly toward the World Health Organization's recommendation of 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
Following a successful event created by New Westminster advocacy group Walker’s Caucus, which organized a friendly competition between the City of Burnaby and City of New Westminster to encourage the general public to walk more, BEST Mobility launched the Walk30 Challenge in 2016 to encourage more walking to school and in the community for children and families.
“While schools may have their own internal walk-to-school initiatives, we noticed there was a notable lack of region wide initiatives centered around walking and walking advocacy, especially for elementary school students,” BEST Mobility Program and Communications Coordinator said Reid Valaitis explained.
“By bringing WALK30 to more elementary schools, it amplifies the individual actions of these schools on a broader, regional level, and highlights the importance of walking for children and the positive impacts it can have from a health, transportation safety, environmental, and community well-being perspective.”
While friendly competition can motivate participation, the challenge's greatest value is its long-term impact. As a free, community-driven initiative, Walk30 promotes active living, encourages walking as a sustainable mode of transportation, and helps families rethink their travel habits.
“Compared to previous years, participating schools in 2026 logged the highest amount of walking minutes in the challenge’s history with schools walking over 430,000 minutes during the month," Valaitis noted. “We also hope that the province and municipalities across the region recognize the benefits of walking as transportation and the demand for safer, more walkable streets for folks of all ages and abilities.”
BEST Mobility hopes the challenge will inspire lasting walking habits while encouraging governments to invest in safer walking infrastructure.
Fighting for change: Girl Guides on the Sunshine coast demand better
Walking-to-school initiatives can help change habits, but they can also expose gaps in the walking network. In small and rural communities, inadequate walking infrastructure can significantly affect both access and safety.
On British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, a group of Girl Guides has turned a safety concern into a campaign for change.
Camp Olave leaders identified public transit as the preferred way for campers to travel between the Langdale Ferry Depot and camp because of its affordability, accessibility, environmental benefits, and educational value. However, campers must cross a busy highway to reach the camp entrance.
“Crossing here is very risky — especially on dark, rainy Friday nights — due to an 80 km/h speed limit, no crosswalk, no sidewalks, and no driver warning signs," Camp Olave Management Committee member Linda Atkins lamented.
In response, the Guides are advocating for a reduced speed limit, a pedestrian crossing, and warning signs to improve safety. Their concerns are supported by growing traffic volumes and community growth along the corridor. Camp Olave alone welcomed more than 6,000 campers last year and will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.
“The Camp Olave Management Committee would deeply appreciate a crosswalk to ensure camper safety,” Atkins added. “These changes would slow traffic in front of the camp, significantly improving crossing safety for the Girl Guides and local residents alike, benefiting everyone.”
Taking the next steps: 35 ideas to support walking in BC
Walking is a right that everyone should be able to enjoy regardless of age, ability, location, or economic status. To help elevate walking within active transportation discussions and provide municipalities with a roadmap to greater walkability throughout BC, BEST Mobility created 35 Ideas to Support Walking, a practical list of actions municipalities can take to improve walking conditions.
“Most British Columbians want to walk more, but our communities aren't always built for it,” the document states.
Developed in collaboration with researchers, public health agencies, advocates, and experts, the recommendations focus on five key themes:
MAKE WALKING SAFE: Leaving your home on foot should always be a safe and enjoyable experience
MAKE WALKING FUN: When we walk, we can connect with the people and places that make our communities special
MAKE WALKING ACCESSIBLE: Connect the gaps and create space for walking for all abilities
MAKE WALKING CONVENIENT: Make walking the easiest choice for people to move around their communities
MAKE WALKING VISIBLE, MEASURABLE, AND FUNDED: Measure walking and make its value visible to help build the case for funding to build and maintain safe, accessible walking networks.
Walking, or rolling, is part of life for everyone. By giving walking a stronger voice in transportation conversations, we can help create communities where safe, accessible, and enjoyable walking is possible for all.
Get to know your community at a walking pace — you never know what you will discover!
Melissa Bruntlett is a Dutch-Canadian author and urban mobility advocate who strives to communicate the benefits of sustainable transport and inspire happier, healthier, more human-scale cities. Melissa is the founder of Modacity Creative, an independent consultancy that bridges the gap between creating thinking and behaviour change to develop projects with a positive social impact.
