(Portland, OR)  --  Forty-two schools in Portland are among those across the state that are participating in today's National Walk or Bike to School day.  The annual event encourages students to get out of buses and cars and walk or pedal their way to school.  The event is held under the umbrella of the National Safe Routes to school program, but actually started in 1997 with a group called the Partnership for a Walkable America.  The program set a record in 2015 with over five-thousand events held nationwide.