Kauai mayor's walking work bus: A model for building political will

Each week in the summer, the Mayor of Kauai leads a walk over the lunch hour for county employees and others to join him in getting some exercise and to “talk story”. He also requested his department directors to join the group and lead by example. The walking work bus was originally devised for the Mayor to get more exercise and to be able to talk with area residents. Regular participants on the walking work bus include members of the nutrition and physical activity coalition, health department staff, local businesses, county staff and area residents. As part of this activity, walkers were also asked to complete walkability assessments of the walking route. Through the walking work bus, three main outcomes have occurred: 1) relationships have been developed between coalition members and key county staff in an informal, non-threatening way 2) county staff have an increased awareness and deeper understanding of problem areas in the built environment such as weeds growing in sidewalks, lack of wheelchair accessibility and dangerous crosswalks and 3) political will was gained in an area of coalition interest, improving the built environment. By participating in this informal activity, coalition members have been able to build effective political alliances with county departments to help further the agenda of improving the built environment and develop policy around complete streets and safe routes to school. By getting to know each other as people, not asking for favors, the political will that has been gained has been an unexpected outcome.