On 1 October 2018 the Ontario Active School Travel Summit welcomed 150 active school travel champions from across the province and beyond to the Ramada Plaza hotel in downtown Toronto.
Co-hosted by Green Communities Canada (GCC) and the Ontario Active School Travel Council, the sold-out crowd included delegates representing public health, municipal transportation and planning, school boards and transportation consortia, the provincial government and more.
“This is the largest gathering of active school travel champions in the history of Ontario,” acknowledged GCC Executive Director Clifford Maynes during his opening address. The morning continued with a keynote address by Seth LaJeunesse, Associate Director of the U.S. National Center for Safe Routes to School, a presentation by Russell Brownlee, President at True North Safety Group, and a panel discussion with school board and student transportation consortia leaders.
In the afternoon, an Innovation and Inspiration Café created opportunities for lively discussion and idea-sharing on key issues and themes for creating and maintaining a culture of active school travel. (A detailed summary will be shared soon.)
The Summit also facilitated networking and new connections that will strengthen the cause of active school travel throughout Ontario.
“There are so many people here that I want to speak with, there is hardly enough time in one day,” commented Leslie Maxwell, School Travel Planner at Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region, Council member and delegate at the Ontario Active School Travel Summit 2018.
Click here to see the presentation slides from the Summit.