Released April 4, 2010

Contact:
Margo O’Hara
312.427.3325 x 224
margo@activetrans.org

Chicago commuters put the pavement beneath their feet for National Walk to Work Day

Chicago residents and the Active Transportation Alliance celebrated the bipedal commute Friday for Chicago’s inaugural Walk to Work Day.

Active Trans, Chicagoland’s voice for better biking, walking and transit, lead walking groups from locations near downtown to Daley Plaza, where commuters celebrated the day with a mini rally.

“There is so much you see while walking that you miss otherwise,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance. “A two-mile walk takes 30 minutes, and that trip can be anything - part of your commute, a trip to a park, to a store or an excuse to explore your community.”

Walk to Work Day, an international event, falls on the first Friday of every April.
The Active Transportation Alliance works to make active forms of transportation safer and more accessible.

“Walkable communities are key to our health and environment,” Sadowsky said. “Communities can become more walkable when they build infrastructure like sidewalks and crosswalks, and when they make the streets safer by slowing traffic and prioritizing pedestrian safety.”

The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.
 

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