ABC Challenge Week (Anything But Cars) is a chance for schools to compete for active transportation dominance! Students report their typical commute to school trends and show the new mode they tried during ABC Challenge Week. Created by our Youth Advisory Council, ABC Challenge Week is an easy way is to celebrate active transportation as a school community and is geared towards high schools and junior high schools across Calgary and area.

 

The goal is to battle School vs School in a mode-shift show down.  Students come up with an alternative way of transportation to get to school such as biking, riding a scooter, walking, and public transportation or car pooling and register their trips on our portal.

This competition runs twice a year, in October and May to encourage students to test a new mode of travel. Students on our Youth Advisory Council will be busy creating content for schools to use for inspiration and assist leadership students in every school .  

In past years, participating schools have received funding to support a variety of initiatives to encourage active transportation in their schools. From purchasing bike tools and a stand to enable bike repairs at the school, throwing a pizza party to get the students talking about active modes, funding better bike racks, creating a lock library, the list of activities is endless. This year, every participating school will be given the opportunity to apply for $1000 in funding for a student led project. Simply identify the students keen to work on the project and the application and set them loose!

Youth en Route also works with our local partners to find prizing for schools and students with high participation rates. Past awards have been bikes from local bike shops like BP Cycle, a permanent repair stand with tools from BikeBike, and dozens more!