History of Walk & Roll

The San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) encourages bicycling, walking, car/vanpooling, and using transit. Walking and bicycling are clean, healthy and fun ways to travel and exercise.

Welcome to the Walk & Roll Home Page. Here you will find information on the MPO's Walk & Roll Rally celebrated each May during National Bike Month. You will also find information on the Walk & Roll Individual and Corporate Challenges that occur during the months of September and October.

Each year, May is identified as National Bike Month. Celebrating National Bike Month is a great way to highlight how bicycling in San Antonio and the region is growing by leaps and bounds. A recent MPO study showed that thousands of cyclists are on the roadways each month. On-street bike lane mileage has grown from 34 miles in 2000 to over 200 miles in 2010 and another potential 350 miles has been identified for the future. Additionally, over 40 miles of off-road hike and bike trails have been or are planned to be built along the Leon and Salado Creeks and the Medina River. Cycling in San Antonio is on a roll! With the increased cyclists in the region comes the need for increased education on cyclists and motorists sharing the road. What better way to focus on education than to identify an entire month specifically to talk about the benefits of including cycling into the transportation system?

For National Bike Month 2012, the MPO will again focus on highlighting exciting bicycling events in our region including the MPO's 16th Annual Walk & Roll Rally at HemisFair Arch on May 4th. If you are a business, you can participate and help spread the word about National Bike Month in 2012 by offering one or more cycling customer incentives appropriate to your business during May. Any incentives you offer, whether for a day, week or all month, will be publicized though this website and throughout the cycling community.

It is never too early to start planning for another successful National Bike Month and Walk & Roll to Work Rally! Please call Lydia Kelly at 210-230-6911 or e-mail at kelly@sametroplan.org to discuss how you can participate in our National Bike Month campaign. Working together we can make the region a world-class bicycle-friendly community.

Here is a recap of the 2011 September/October Corporate and Individual Challenges:

During the last two months of the "ozone season" when air pollution tends to be the worst in the San Antonio area, almost 2000 people collectively took more than 128,000 walking, biking, busing, or carpooling trips that saved over 2.7 million vehicle miles traveled and kept over four tons of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (the components of ozone or "smog") from the air. These individuals participated in the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) Walk & Roll Challenge by recording their trips on NuRide.com.

This was the 7th Annual Walk & Roll Challenge, which AACOG has conducted in support of the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization's Walk & Roll Program to draw attention to the connection between transportation and air quality and to encourage people in the AACOG region to adopt new modes of transportation.

During 2011, 12 regional businesses, governmental agencies, and other organizations participated in the challenge, namely; AACOG, Bexar County, City of New Braunfels, City of San Antonio, CPS Energy, Lake | Flato Architects, San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, San Antonio Water System, Southwest Research Institute, VIA Metropolitan Transit, US Army Installation Management Command, and USAA.

Based on the number of trips recorded by employees divided by the number of employees in the organization, winners in the following categories were determined:

Large organization: 1st place - City of San Antonio, 2nd place - Bexar County

Mid-size organization: 1st place - CPS Energy, 2nd place - Southwest Research Institute

Small organization: 1st place - San Antonio-Bexar Co. Metropolitan Planning Organization, 2nd place - Lake | Flato Architects

Best overall achievement: USAA

Check back soon for updates for the 2012 Walk & Roll festivities!

Bicycling Tip of the Month: