PRIORITY POLICY

Safe Routes to School

Kids and families can more easily incorporate physical activity into their daily routines if their communities are bike- and wheel-friendly

Physical activity is vital for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, yet the most recent federal survey found that only 26% of high school students were active for the expert-recommended 60 minutes a day on all seven days before the survey. In addition, the percentage of children walking or biking to school declined from 48% in 1969 to only 17.6% in 2014. Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) promotes walking and wheeling to and from school by providing communities with resources to build sidewalks and bike paths, add crosswalks, and improve lighting and signage to ensure safe conditions.

Between 2005 and 2012, the federal SRTS program provided more than $1 billion in funding to states and communities to support infrastructure improvements and education to make it easier and safer for children to walk and wheel to and from school. Subsequently, SRTS was combined with other federal programs designed to encourage walking and wheeling; the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program for transportation alternatives provides $850 million annually through 2020 to fund SRTS and related projects.

Recommendations

Strong policies can help children and families eat healthier foods and be active. RWJF offers specific policy recommendations to help ensure more children in the United States have consistent access to healthy foods from the earliest days of life, in order to help them grow up at a healthy weight.

See All Policy Recommendations

Featured Studies and Resources

Spotlight

“Walk. Bike. Get Fit.” in Arizona

With federal SRTS funding secured by the Arizona Department of Transportation, Kinsey Elementary School in Flagstaff, Arizona, implemented a comprehensive safety education program called “Walk. Bike. Get Fit.” The percentage of students walking and biking to school rose from 6% to 25%.

Report

Investing in Safe Routes

This report reviews the economic benefits of Safe Routes to School, including reducing costs of obesity due to increased physical activity.

Toolkit

Build a Safe Routes Program

In 2019, Safe Routes Partnership published a step-by-step guide that can help your school start a Safe Routes to School Program or strengthen an existing one.

Access It

State Policies on Safe Routes to School

Does your state support walking and wheeling to school in ways that are safe and equitable? Not even a fourth of states do.

See the Numbers in Your State

Fast Facts

2X

Children from low-income families are twice as likely to walk to school as children from higher-income families.

44%

A study in New York City found Safe Routes to School infrastructure reduced pedestrian injuries from school travel by 44 percent.

34

Overall, 34 states have some form of a Complete Streets policy in place.

Data to Share

A safety analysis by the California Department of Transportation estimated that SRTS was responsible for up to a 49 percent decline in childhood bicycle and pedestrian collision rates.

Safe Routes Partnership

A study of more than 800 schools in DC, FL, OR, and TX found that Safe Routes to School interventions resulted in an average 31 percent increase in walking and biking to school over a five-year period.

Safe Routes Partnership

Parent survey results from 2007 through 2013 indicated that walking to and from these schools increased from 12 to 15 percent in the morning (a 25 percent increase), and from about 15 to 19 percent in the afternoon (a 27 percent increase).

National Center for Safe Routes to School