Are You Walking to Work Tomorrow?


It’s National Walk to Work Day, part of Oregon Health Week. Details from the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition:

Portland Celebrates a Healthy Economy with Walk to Work Day

Portland, Ore. – As part of Oregon Public Health Week, the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition and partners invite the walkers and workers of Portland to meet at one of four locations on the morning of Friday, April 6th, and walk to City Hall for light breakfast and games.

“This event is an opportunity to highlight walking as an important part of Portland’s commuting culture,” said WPC’s Executive Director, Steph Routh. “Whether it’s walking to work or walking to the bus to work, many people rely on walking for their daily commute.”

“Walking is great recreational exercise, and walking for a purpose – like to work, school, or the grocery store – is a great way to squeeze some physical activity into a busy schedule,” remarked Heidi Guenin, Transportation Policy Coordinator for Upstream Public Health.

Participants will meet up at any of the four following locations before heading to City Hall:

  • Stumptown Coffee, 34th & SE Belmont – meet 7:15am, walk 7:30am
  • 26th & SE Clinton – meet 7:30am, walk 7:45am
  • Leftbank Building (240 N. Broadway) – meet 7:30am, walk 7:45am
  • Lower MacLeay Park – meet 7:15am, walk 7:30am

In addition to the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, the following partners and sponsors have helped make Walk to Work Day happen: Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Bob’s Red Mill, the Intertwine, Lloyd TMA, Kaiser Permanente, KEEN Footwear, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Oregon Public Health Institute, Organics to You, South Waterfront Community Relations, Stumptown Coffee, Sunshine Dairy Foods, Swan Island TMA, TriMet, and Upstream Public Health.

“I’m walking to promote healthy streets for all citizens, walkers, bikers and car drivers,” said Rob Sadowsky, who is ED of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and who will be leading the walk from 34th & SE Belmont. “Plus, walking is the perfect form of transportation.”

Why walk to work? Employees who exercise regularly have lower health care costs and less absenteeism.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports many benefits to walking.

  • Walking to work saves employers between 6% and 32% in health care costs per year.
  • Physically fit people are absent an average of two fewer days per year than people who are not physically fit.
  • Walking to work allows employees to save time by combining transportation with exercise.
  • Employees who walk to work arrive less stressed and more alert than those who drive alone. Happier employees tend to stay with their employers longer than stressed workers. (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/physicalactivity/physicalactivity.pdf)

National Walk to Work Day is held the first Friday of April in the USA, a tradition that began in 2004.

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2 responses to “Are You Walking to Work Tomorrow?”

  1. I currently work from home, so I usually “walk to work”. However, interestingly tomorrow I am actually driving 600 miles – so I won’t be helping “the cause” much. :(

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