Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS)
What is Safe Routes to School?
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) makes it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school. We can increase the number of children who walk or bicycle to school by funding projects that remove the barriers that currently prevent them from doing so. Those barriers include:
- Lack of infrastructure
- Unsafe infrastructure
- Lack of programs that promote walking and bicycling through education/encouragement programs aimed at children, parents, and the community.
Why is Safe Routes to School important?
These statistics point to a rise in preventable childhood diseases, worsening air quality and congestion around schools, and missed opportunities for children to grow into self-reliant, independent adults.
SRTS Programs reverses these trends by funding safety projects and efforts that promote walking and bicycling within a collaborative community framework. The most sustainable projects emerge from local networks of parents, schools, and professionals in transportation, engineering, health, and law enforcement.
Napa Safe Routes to Schools
SRTS in Napa County creates safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to walk and bike to and from school. NVTA partners with the Napa County Office of Education and the Napa County Bicycle Coalition to provide SRTS programs. The program includes in-classroom education, on-bike and pedestrian safety training, school site walk audits, evaluations, and surveys. The SRTS team works closely with school parent groups and teachers, police departments, public health staff, and city traffic managers.
SRTS also increases physical activity, improves unsafe walking and bicycling conditions, and may improve air quality and reduce congestion. The school setting provides a unique opportunity to create an environment that encourages walking and bicycling as a way to travel to and from school and, especially for walking, as an activity during the school day. This holds the potential to reach the vast majority of children who regularly attend and must travel to school.
Walking does not require special skills or expensive equipment, which makes it feasible for most of the population. School-based walking programs have the potential to address several of the most commonly cited barriers to physical activity, including motor vehicle traffic dangers and lack of a safe environment. Walking and bicycling to and from school can contribute towards the development of a lifelong habit and a community-wide norm of incorporating physical activity into daily routines. Children who walk to school are more physically active overall than those who travel to school by motor vehicle, although the journey to school itself contributed relatively little.
Napa County Office of Education maintains an SRTS website with resources and ways to get involved.
Background
Today, more than ever, there is a need to provide options that allow children to walk and bicycle to school safely. Many communities struggle with traffic congestion and vehicle pollutants around schools. At the same time, children generally engage in less physical activity, which contributes to the growing epidemic of obesity. At first glance, these problems may seem to be separate issues, but SRTS programs can address all these challenges through a coordinated action plan.
SRTS looks at why few children are walking and bicycling to school, what caused this shift from a generation ago, and the unintended consequences that possibly result. SRTS programs have a growing record of success as communities seek to increase the number of children safely walking and bicycling to school.
Each school starts from a unique situation and with different circumstances. Some schools have great places for walking and bicycling, but few students are taking advantage of it. Other communities have children walking and bicycling to school in unsafe conditions or along poorly maintained routes, while some communities do not have children walking or bicycling to school at all. Successful past SRTS programs involve the whole community: parents, children, neighborhood groups, schools, law enforcement officers, community leaders and transportation and public health professionals help identify the issues and solutions.
The implications of Napa SRTS can be far-reaching. This program can improve safety for children and a community of pedestrians and bicyclists. It provides opportunities for people to become more physically active and to rely less on their vehicles. The SRTS program benefits the environment and contributes to the community’s quality of life by reducing traffic congestion and vehicle emissions.
For communities concerned about traffic jams, unsafe walking conditions, physically inactive lifestyles and overall quality of life, the SRTS program can be an effective starting point for tackling these issues.
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