School

OVERVIEW

Safe Routes to School is a nationwide program to substantially improve the ability of children to walk and bicycle to school safely.

Less than 40 years ago, walking and bicycling to school were commonplace – in 1969, roughly half of all 5 to 18 year olds either walked or biked to school.  Last year, 230,719 of the 281,296 students enrolled in West Virginia schools, or 82%, were transported by school buses.  Buses traveled 42,481,687 miles and used over 6,000,000 gallons of fuel.¹  Approximately 25% of the remaining 50,577 students were transported to school by their parents.  This change in transportation mode has added to traffic congestion, reduced air quality and contributed to the deterioration of our children’s health.

Children are less active today.  According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and health Promotion, the prevalence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled.  Not only does this affect their energy level in the classroom, it also increases their risk for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.  Safe Routes to School provides a powerful way to get children in grades K-8 healthier, fit and excited to go to school.

The most successful way to increase bicycling and walking is through a comprehensive approach that includes the “Five E” components. 

Engineering – Creating operational and physical improvements to the infrastructure surrounding schools that reduce speeds and potential conflicts with motor vehicle traffic, and establish safer and fully accessible crossings, walkways, trails and bikeways.

Education – Teaching children about the broad range of transportation choices, instructing them in important lifelong bicycling and walking safety skills, and launching Driver safety campaigns in the vicinity of schools. Schoolteachers, health professionals, law enforcement officers, and certified bicycle safety instructors may provide education. Conduct of Safe Routes to School Workshops that target school and community-level audiences will be scheduled with the Safe Routes to School Coordinator.

Encouragement – Using events and activities to promote walking and bicycling. Examples are Annual Walk to School; Walking School Buses; Bicycle Trains; Golden Sneaker Award; and modest incentives. 

Enforcement – Partnering with local law enforcement to ensure traffic laws are obeyed in the vicinity of schools, which includes enforcement of speeds, yielding to pedestrians in crossings, proper walking and bicycling behaviors, and initiating community enforcement, such as adult crossing guard programs. 

Evaluation – Monitoring and documenting outcomes and trends through the collection of data before and after the intervention(s) using standardized student and parent surveys, including costs for data gathering, analysis, and evaluation reporting
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¹WV Department of Education, Office of School Transportation.