(Radio Iowa) – Hundreds of Iowa students will be walking or riding bikes to class tomorrow (Wednesday), as part of Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day. Matt Burkey, the Safe Routes to Schools coordinator at the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, says he’s thrilled they’re seeing such a big boost in Iowa schools that are taking part in this twice-a-year promotion.

“We’ve been seeing, in the last two years, an uptick in schools participating,” Burkey says. “I’ve been averaging about 10 new schools every time, but we’ve doubled our numbers from over 60 schools last October, to now, the count is 127 registered schools all across the state of Iowa to promote Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day.”

Burkey says it’s a fun and active way to kick off the school day. “Back in the 1960s, about 60% of people walked or biked to school, and these days it’s less than 10%,” Burkey says. “So if we can get a few families here and there across the state to say, ‘Hey, I don’t need to drive to school and drop off my young students, if I could just walk or bike with them, get the exercise, get some sunshine, wave at the neighbors.’ It’s a great way to start your day and rebuild a sense of community across Iowa.”

While the official day for the event is Wednesday, Burkey says any day in May will do if you’d still like to sign up. “All you have to do is go to WalkBiketoSchool.org and they’ll have a link right there,” Burkey says. “Anyone can sign up their school. It could be the principal or a teacher, or it could just be a parent that says, ‘Hey, I’m going to get a couple families together and we’re going to walk to school together or bike to school together.’”

The day is part of a national movement to promote safe routes to school and active lifestyles for kids of all ages. By participating, Burkey says schools promote safe walking and biking, raise awareness about traffic safety, and encourage positive change in their communities.