What is Safe Routes to School (SRTS)

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a rising international effort to increase safety and promote walking and bicycling to school through engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation. Over the past 30 years, there has been a rise in obesity and physical inactivity in children and adults. In 1969, roughly half of all children walked or biked to school. Now, it is about 15 percent. For school trips less than one mile, 29 percent walk or bike.

The Safe Routes to School program in the DMATS and RPA 8 planning areas is taking steps to increase the number of children walking and biking to school by leading a planning process for the development of safe routes to school. The first step in their process was to survey parents and students to gather data about the routes children are currently taking to school as well as the impediments to walking or biking.  Of the 9,000 surveys that were distributed, 6,800 were returned and compiled. Once this information was input and analyzed, school administrators and members of neighborhood associations were asked to weigh in on problems facing individual schools. Meetings with administrators and neighborhood associations were essential to the development of a list of improvements for the routes most traveled by students on their way to and from school.  The information gathered from the surveys and meetings is available in the Your School Summary section, and the public is welcome to provide input on issues surrounding pedestrian and bicyclist issues in the community in the Provide Input section.