Stop + Walk encourages parents driving to school to drop-off or pick-up their children 2-4 blocks away from school. This allows students to walk the rest of the way and get some exercise. Stop + Walk targets traffic congestion around schools. By having more students walk to school, we decrease traffic congestion and pollution around the school and increase physical activity and student safety. More information is at http://www.saferoutesportland.org
During the fall 2008 school year at Pawnee Elementary School in the City of Overland Park, KS, students will have a new bus stop to wait at -- the pick-up area for the Walking School Bus.
In October 2008, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) notified the City of Overland Park that it received a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) non-infrastructure grant for $14,525 to hire an SRTS coordinator
Roosevelt Middle School and the surrounding community of Eugene, Oregon, have successfully developed a team of community organizations committed to providing Safe Routes to School (SRTS) for children.
Before Congress passed the SAFETEA-LU transportation legislation in 2005, the Las Cruces Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in Las Cruces, NM, adopted Safe Routes to School (SRTS) policies into its transportation plan. "We actually started on the SRTS project prior to the state's SRTS program getting started," said Andy Hume, associate planner for the MPO. "We wrote one of the first action plans in the state."
In spring 2007, Holdrege Public Schools in Holdrege, NE, applied for and received two federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grants through the Nebraska Department of Roads' Safe Routes Nebraska program -- one
$167,883 infrastructure grant and one $19,603 non-infrastructure grant.
With these funds, four elementary schools and the city's middle school will benefit from a variety of infrastructure and non-infrastructure improvements.
The federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is administered at the state level by each state's Department of Transportation (DOT.) To learn if there are local programs near you please visit your state's Safe Routes to School website or contact your State Safe Routes to School Coordinator.
The National Safe Routes to School Task Force has released its final report, Safe Routes to School: A Transportation Legacy — A National Strategy to Increase Safety and Physical Activity among American Youth (PDF, 3.6 MB).
Safe Routes Nebraska recently formulated several standards-based activities to help students learn about walking and biking safety and the importance of staying active. These creative activities were designed to teach students in each grade level to understand the health benefits of walking and biking to school as well as how to do it safely.
These lesson plans, developed by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition in 2003, are designed to teach safe walking and biking practices to children in grades K-8.
Grade 1 and up:
Grade 2:
Grade 4:
This curriculum, designed by the Portland Office of Transportation, is composed of 25 lessons designed to involve students (grades preK-5) in both classroom and active/hands-on learning. The lessons included here are focused on protecting/improving the environment and student safety, and are not specific to Portland. The full curriculum is available at www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/40561.
