Measuring Success for Safe Routes to School Programs

Safe routes to school (SRTS) programs aim to increase the share of students commuting to school by active modes (e.g., walking and cycling). This study measures the relationship between the presence of SRTS programs in a neighborhood and children’s journey-to-school mode choice. Children were identified from households in the 2012 California Household Travel Survey and they were classified based on whether they commuted to school by active modes. Next, census tracts with SRTS programs were identified based on the presence of data in the National Center for Safe Routes to School (NCSRTS) data collection system. Based on these two datasets, a logistic regression model estimated the likelihood that a child commuted to school by active modes, based on the presence of a SRTS program and controlling for individual, household, and tract characteristics. This analysis was supplemented with stakeholder interviews about the nature of SRTS programs within the study area and how they are perceived. Findings indicate that longer trip distance and race (relative to white students) are associated with reduced rates of active travel to school, but that these differences are mitigated by the presence of SRTS programs. Interviews suggest SRTS programs in the study area primarily emphasize education and encouragement rather than engineering interventions. It was concluded that the effect of such SRTS programming might best be described as reducing barriers to active school travel rather than simply increasing the likelihood of using active modes.

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Understanding and Mapping Institutional Impediments to Walking and Bicycling to School

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.3141/2074-01 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 2074 (1) ◽

pp. 3-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ruth L. Steiner ◽

Ilir Bejleri ◽

Jennifer L. Wheelock ◽

Gene Boles ◽

Maria Cahill ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Local Governments ◽

School Attendance ◽

Residential Areas ◽

Street Network ◽

Network Characteristics ◽

Safe Routes To School ◽

School Programs ◽

Walk To School ◽

School Siting

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) legislation calls for the establishment of a Safe Routes to School program in each state that is funded for the five fiscal years from 2005 through 2009. States are required to spend between 70% and 90% for infrastructure and between 10% and 30% on noninfrastructure programs. For each of these components of the program to be successful, the built environment of the community surrounding the school needs to support all modes of travel. Much of the emphasis in Safe Routes to School programs has focused on increasing walking in neighborhoods with the characteristics that support walking, such as high-density residential areas close to schools and connected grid and pedestrian amenities. Using Hillsborough County, Florida, as a case study, this paper focuses on barriers to walking and bicycling to school by examining how decisions about school siting, school attendance boundaries, street network characteristics, and other factors controlled by local governments and school boards affect the potential for children to walk to school.

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