National Safe Routes to School Conference

The Safe Routes to School Movement

Safe Routes to School is a national and international movement to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to bicycle and walk to school. The most successful programs incorporate the five E’s: education, encouragement, engineering, enforcement, and evaluation. The goal of Safe Routes to School is to get more children bicycling and walking to schools on an everyday basis. This improves community and personal health, benefits the environment, increases safety, and helps to decrease traffic congestion around schools.

Safe Routes to School is aimed at reversing the decline in children walking and bicycling to school. In 1969, approximately 50% of children walked or bicycled to school, and 87% of children living within one mile of school did. Today, fewer than 15% of schoolchildren walk or bicycle to school. As a result, kids today are less active, less independent, and less healthy. As much as 20 to 30% of morning traffic is generated by parents driving their children to schools, and traffic-related crashes are the top cause of death and major injury for children in the U.S. ages 1 to 17.

An International Effort

The term “Safe Routes to School” was first coined in Denmark in the 1970s. Since that time, Safe Routes to School has spread internationally. There are active programs in throughout Europe, in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The first Safe Routes to School program in the USA took place in the Bronx in 1997. In the year 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued $50,000 each for Safe Routes to School pilot programs in Marin County, California and Arlington, Massachusetts. Within a year after the launch of the pilot programs, grassroots Safe Routes to School efforts were started throughout the United States. With the federal program, funds are available to implement Safe Routes to School in all 50 states.

National Center for Safe Routes to School

Established in May 2006, the National Center for Safe Routes to School assists communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bike to school. The Center strives to equip Safe Routes to School programs with the knowledge and technical information to implement safe and successful strategies.

The National Center for Safe Routes to School is maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.

Safe Routes to School National Partnership

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership (the Partnership) is a fast-growing network of more than 400 organizations, government agencies, and professional groups working to make it safer and easier for children to bicycle and walk to schools throughout the United States.  The Partnership launched in August 2005 when Congress passed the federal transportation bill which includes $612 million in funding for state implementation of SRTS programs.   The Partnership’s website includes separate web pages featuring details and contacts for all 50 states, and also provides policy and program resources related to SRTS implementation at local, state, and national levels. Their hundreds of partners utilize communication channels to spread the word about SRTS news, opportunities, challenges, and collaborations.  During 2009, the Partnership is also working on national advocacy efforts to secure additional funding for state and local implementation of SRTS through the federal economic recovery act, the transportation bill, and the climate bill.  

Web links:

Visit the National Center for Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s websites for additional information and resources on Safe Routes to School.