Safe Routes to School (SR2S)
What is it?
Why do we need it?
What does it look like?
A Brief History of SR2S
Who Supports It?
What is SR2S?
Safe Routes to School (SR2S) programs are sustained efforts to improve the health and well-being of children by assessing and taking measures to improve walking and biking conditions on the route to school and enabling and encouraging children to walk and bike these routes. Federal legislation was introduced that would provide funding to support improving routes to school.
In more detail…
Safe Routes to School (SR2S) programs are sustained efforts by parents, other community members, community leaders and local, state, and federal governments to improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school. SR2S programs examine conditions around schools and facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that improve safety and reduce traffic and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. As a result, these programs make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative thus encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.
Why do we need SR2S?
• Prevalence of children considered obese has doubled to 25% since 1970 (CDC 2000).
• Sharp increase in cases of heart disease, certain types of cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, stroke, arthritis, breathing problems, and psychological disorders, such as depression.
• Pedestrian and bicycle injuries are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children.
• Asthma rates have increased 160% in the past 15 years in children.
• Motor vehicle use is the source of more air pollution than any other activity.
• Cost of health problems associated with obesity in the U.S. in 2000 was $117 billion!
What does SR2S look like?
Successful SR2S programs may include policy development, planning and implementation of strategies such as improvements to streets and sidewalks, education and encouragement of children and parents, and increased enforcement of traffic laws. SR2S programs promote school construction that includes renovation and improvement of existing schools, and locating new schools to reduce walking/biking distance and hazards, and avoidance of major traffic threats. And they help foster cooperation between school officials, law enforcement officials, and transportation planners. Programs can include elements of the Four E’s.
The Four E’s
Encouragement
Any efforts to encourage parents and their children to walk + bike to school, such as special events, announcements, public relations, and incentive programs.
♣ Encourage parents to drive the speed limit.
♣ Organize neighbors and parents to bike and walk together in “Walk + Bike to School Buses
♣ Organize and promote events and contests such as Walk + Bike to School Day, Walk + Bike to School Challenges, and Read, Write and Ride programs
Education
Programs used to teach bicycle and pedestrian safety to kids and their parents, such as proper crossing at crosswalks, how to safely ride a bike on the street, and safe driving behaviors for adults.
♣ Present bicycle and pedestrian safety information to school classes and community groups.
♣ Train teachers and parents how to teach traffic safety.
> Safety Tips
Engineering
The design and building of facilities – roadways, sidewalks, lighting, signs – to improve the road and sidewalk conditions of school neighborhoods and enhance the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. Includes, for example, traffic calming methods to slow traffic and give pedestrians and cyclists priority, such as roundabouts, sidewalks, curb extensions, narrower streets, speed bumps, and speed zones.
♣ Identify the size of the student body and where they live with respect to school.
♣ Examine the building and neighborhood to gauge the potential for bicycling facilities.
♣ Survey students to find out why they don’t walk and bike to school.
♣ Map the routes and transportation modes that kids take to and from school.
♣ Assess the need for drop-off restrictions around the school.
♣ Walkability and bikeability audits of the safety of streets around schools
♣ Encourage cities to install bike parking near the main entrance of schools.
♣ Encourage cities to use "Smart Growth" principles in city planning and development.
Enforcement
Efforts by law enforcement to aggressively enforce posted speeds and traffic laws to create safer driving habits and calm traffic by getting drivers to slow down in school neighborhoods.
♣ Encourage local police departments to enforce traffic safety laws
A Brief History of SR2S
In the mid-1970s, Odense, Denmark pioneered a pilot program where all of their 45 schools identified specific road dangers to be addressed. In 10 years, child pedestrian and cyclist casualties fell by more than 80%. Soon after, Denmark established a national program. In Great Britain, a group called Sustrans initiated 10 Safe Routes to Schools pilot projects in 1995. Two years into the initiative, bike use tripled, child pedestrian casualties fell 70% and cycling casualties by 28%. Two Canadian programs were developed in the late nineties, borrowing from the success of the European examples. “Go for the Green in Toronto” and “Way to Go” in British Columbia.
One of the most successful Safe Routes to School programs in the US is in Marin County, CA. In August 2000, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition was funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop national model Safe Routes to Schools programs. Congressman James Oberstar, ranking Democrat of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, endorsed the program as a means to reduce traffic congestion around schools and promote healthy alternatives. At the end of the pilot program the schools experienced a 57% increase in the number of children walking and biking and a 29% decrease in the number of children arriving alone in a car.
Who Supports It?
Our Partners
The Oregon Walk + Bike to School program is led by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition , with assistance from NikeGO, Cycle Oregon, the Oregon Walk to School Committee, Portland and Oregon Departments of Transportation, schools, parents, teachers, students, and others.
Oregon Walk to School Committee
Oregon Department of Transportation
Alliance for Community Traffic Safety in Oregon
Oregon Safe Kids Coalition
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Oregon Health & Science University Think First Program
City of Portland Office of Transportation
Oregon Medical Association
Oregon Department of Health Services
Willamette Pedestrian Coalition
Oregon Statewide Physical Activity Plan
The Oregon Statewide Physical Activity Plan and its companion document, the Oregon Statewide Public Health Nutrition Plan, are calls to action for all who can have an impact on promoting daily physical activity and healthy eating to improve the health of Oregonians.
Healthy Choices 2010
Healthy Choices 2010, a report produced by The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, identifies strategies related to Safe Routes to School.
Oregon House Bill 3712
Passed in 2001, this bill states that "City and County governing bodies shall work with school district personnel to identify barriers and hazards to children walking or cycling to and from school."
Portland Neighborhood Traffic Safety Partnership Strategy
It identifies Safe Routes to School as a strategy that will help maximize the ability of our streets, sidewalks, and pathways to support a safe, multi-modal transportation system that enhances neighborhood livability.
