Safe Routes to School: Improving Community Health by Shifting Travel Modes

Background: As part of the 2005 Transportation Reauthorization Bill, Congress established the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program to make it safer for children to walk and bicycle to and from school nationwide. State departments of transportation award these federal funds to local governments to improve the built environment in school neighborhoods as well as provide educational programs to teach children traffic safety skills, ensure that motorists are driving safely around schools, and encourage students to walk and bicycle to school. There is increasing evidence that in addition to benefitting children and their families on the trip to school, SRTS programs are resulting in travel mode shifts that provide communitywide improvements in health, safety, and quality of life.

Significance: By reducing vehicle miles traveled and addressing local traffic patterns, SRTS programs can play a major role in achieving several local public health goals including improving safety, increasing opportunities for physical activity for children and adults, and improving air quality. These potential health benefits are particularly important in lower-income communities that tend to suffer disproportionate injury, obesity, and air pollution burdens. SRTS projects include modifying the built environment such as building or repairing sidewalks and bike lanes, improving street crossings and intersections, slowing traffic, and other techniques to improve safety and accessibility. SRTS education and encouragement strategies serve as catalysts for social norm change necessary for children and their families to adopt a more physically active lifestyle. Additionally, SRTS programs offer a model of diverse, multidisciplinary, and collaborative planning, and can provide an opportunity to leverage additional resources and policy changes to accomplish a range of local health goals.