MEDIA RELEASE
The City of New Westminster Wins the 2022 Burnaby/New Westminster WALK30 Challenge!
Burnaby and New Westminster – The annual Burnaby/New Westminster WALK30 Challenge has come to a close, with New Westminster coming in first place to break last year’s tie! Registered New Westminster residents logged an incredible average of 36.9 walking minutes per day, surpassing the goal of the Challenge to walk for 30 minutes per day. The City of Burnaby came in close behind, with registered residents walking an average of 34.3 minutes per day.
The WALK30 Challenge is an annual friendly competition between Burnaby and New Westminster that encourages residents to walk more in their communities and rethink how they get around. WALK30 inspires participants to choose walking as a mode of transportation for exercise and health, leisure and enjoyment, and for completing daily tasks and errands. Participants log their daily walking minutes online over the course of five weeks, exploring new places and making community connections along the way.
The winner was announced at Mary Avenue Park on May 30, 2022, where Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley and New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote were joined by students from Twelfth Avenue and Lord Kelvin elementary school students for the presentation of the Golden Shoephy award. Elementary school students were among the most dedicated WALK30 participants this year, walking to school and walking with their teachers and classmates, while they learned about the importance of walking together.
“Burnaby went above and beyond in the Walk30 Challenge, and we exceeded our goal by walking an average of 34.3 minutes a day,” said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley. “I’m especially pleased with participation from Burnaby schools. Walking to school is a great way to start a lifelong habit of exploring our community on foot and using active transportation to get to our destinations. When we walk more, we improve our health and the health of the planet.”
“It is year 5 of the annual WALK30 Burnaby/New Westminster Walking Challenge and this year New Westminster residents logged an average of 36.9 walking minutes per day, surpassing the goal of the Challenge to walk for 30 minutes per day once again,” said Mayor Jonathan Coté. “I am optimistic that the community will continue walking to work, school and to run errands, because we can all walk, wheel or roll to reduce the number of trips made by car, in line with our sustainable transportation goals. We ALL win when we walk more every day.”
Although the WALK30 Challenge may be over for another year, Burnaby and New Westminster continue to support sustainable transportation initiatives. Both Burnaby and New Westminster have a zero emissions by 2050 target, and a mode split target as part of their climate action goals. Burnaby aims for 75% of trips to be taken by public transit or active transportation by 2050, and New Westminster aims to have 60% of all trips to be taken by a sustainable transportation mode by 2030.
The 2022 WALK30 Burnaby/New Westminster Challenge was developed by the City of New Westminster and the City of Burnaby Healthier Community Partnership Committees. BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation) ran the event with support from the volunteer-led New Westminster Walkers’ Caucus.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
City of Burnaby contact: Margaret Manifold, Senior Social Planner
604 294 7407 margaret.manifold@burnaby.ca
City of New Westminster contact: Antonia Reynolds, Active Transportation Coordinator 604 515 3811 areynolds@newwestcity.ca
BEST contact: Isabel Garcia, WALK30 Coordinator and Living Streets Manager
778 580 9037 isabel.garcia@best.bc.ca
The WALK30 Challenge is a program of Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST). BEST is a non-profit charity focused on walking, cycling, public transit and alternatives to privately-owned cars.
Thank you to our sponsors City of Burnaby, City of New Westminster, TransLink, and Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, and to our partner Fraser Health.
