Kids. Walking. Duh.

"They set up a piedibus (literally foot-bus in Italian) — a bus route with a driver but no vehicle. Each morning a mix of paid staff members and parental volunteers in fluorescent yellow vests lead lines of walking students along Lecco's twisting streets to the schools' gates, Pied Piper-style, stopping here and there as their flock expands." (full story here.)

I have to admit that I smiled when I first read this article, as I pictured a long line of kids walking to school with a few adults herding them, no doubt skipping and laughing the whole way there. To me, this seems like a no-brainer. Let's not even get into the potential environmental benefit - let's just talk about getting children into the habit of walking and exercising, something that happens far too little in the lives of today's children.

We begin, through our own choices, to teach children very early on that time is money, and often more important than things like exercise or quality. I remember when I was kindergarten young, my mother used to walk me to and from school, and after I started going to school normal hours, I'd walk with my sister. While I've never really considered it before, I think this habit of walking to school was rather formative. Living outside of the US (and away from LA) has allowed me to rediscover my appreciation of walking. Living in Hong Kong or Budapest or Lund, walking one or two miles to get somewhere again become something commonplace and expected in my life. I rather like it this way.

Now, let's get to the short and long term benefits of walking. Short-term - as the article points out, less carbon emissions, better health, more quality social time with other kids, interacting with the real world, and a better sense of community. The long-term benefits (which also include the positives from building a sense of community) are things like comfort with walking, greater appreciation of nature, a different notion of the value of time, and other intangibles that stem from reconnecting to our bipedal-selves. Moreover, if we can get kids to be comfortable with walking from an early age, it could translate into adults who are comfortable with walking - perhaps the start of an anti-car revolution for those trips that last less than a couple of blocks. It also doesn't hurt to have parents interact more and help create stronger bonds within a community.

I think we should all push for more "piedibus" in our own communities. Don't you?