ST. LOUIS — At a time when pedestrian safety has been top of mind for St. Louis elected officials, a man fighting for that cause by walking across the country, made a stop in St. Louis.
Holden Minor Ringer is making this walk to raise money for American Walks while also raising awareness of the difficulties pedestrians face across the country.
Ringer is on a journey to make a difference one step at a time.
“So it kind of started out when I was studying for an exam back in 2021. I was looking out the window wishing I could be anywhere but there. In some ways, but just kind of as a form [of] procrastination, I just started googling. Oh, walking across America. What would it be like to walk across America? And yeah, just kind of the seeds were planted [at] that moment,” Ringer said.
He watered those seeds until they bloomed into reality.
“I just started preparing and planning, talking to people who had walked cross-country, did a lot of walking myself, did a lot of camping and now we are 236 days into walking across America,” Ringer said.
Ringer has had his fair share of challenges walking through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas and now Missouri.
“So one of the things I'm doing is raising money for American Walks, which is a national pedestrian advocacy organization, mostly just because for me, like the most dangerous thing that I deal with every day is just dealing with cars and having unsafe, 'unwalkable' places to be. So in that way, the advocacy is kind of built into the activity,” Ringer said.
He says the people he meets on this journey are the best part of the trip.
“I mean America is much more the people than it is the land,” Ringer said.
One of those people is Dante Barger, the host of the podcast, ‘This Isn’t My Degree.’
Barger says talking with Ringer comes at a time in his own life when he’s walking more and more, truly seeing the importance of discussing pedestrian safety.
“My car was stolen in October. So I have just become another pedestrian. So I'm hyper-aware of the walkability of the city and living in the city you see a lot of different drivers,” Barger said.
Ringer says along the way he’s also sewing the seeds of safety into each conversation.
“I would also recommend people go walk in their neighborhoods because don't need to walk across the country to experience what it's like to be a vulnerable road user,” Ringer said.
He said observing all these different states has shown him the good and bad when it comes to commuting around a city on his feet.
“Drivers on their phone is easily the biggest challenge. So and that's a challenge that everybody faces whether they're driving around St. Louis or walking around St. Louis. So that's been something that's been pretty consistent,” Ringer said.
He’s seen how protected bike lanes benefit more than just cyclists.
“It adds another lane that you're just protected from car traffic and you can talk about how I would much prefer to be walking on a sidewalk than a road. But that doesn't mean there's once again, somebody on their phone who just hits the curb and you're still dealing with that danger,” Ringer said.
Ringer says he’ll be here all week before he continues his journey with a final destination of Washington D.C.
You can follow his journey or donate to his cause here.