For those of us who grew up in the late 20th century, childhood often meant afternoons spent outdoors with friends. Between finishing homework and sitting down for dinner, we played freely in our neighborhoods, playing games in the streets, riding bikes, and enjoying the safety of a community that slowed down for its youngest residents. Fast forward to today, some of those kids who grew up with that sense of safety are now planners and engineers striving to recreate those healthy, human-scaled environments for future generations.
Across the country, the journey to school has become increasingly complicated, even unsafe. As fewer children walk or bike to school and more are driven, school zones face mounting congestion, risky driving behaviors, and heightened stress for students, families, and staff. The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program was established to counteract this trend by making it safer, easier, and more enjoyable for children to walk or bike to school. More than a transportation initiative, SRTS is a public health and community-building strategy.
In this three-part blog series, I will share the various ways SRTS helps to reduce traffic injuries, encourage physical activity, and strengthen connections between schools and their surrounding neighborhoods through infrastructure improvements, education, and community engagement.
Safe Routes to School Program Goals
The SRTS program is guided by a set of impactful goals:
- Enhance safety for students who walk and bike to school
- Encourage active travel among families
- Increase physical activity and health
- Reduce pollution and traffic congestion
- Prioritize communities that have historically lacked transportation investment
Established in 2005 under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the federal SRTS program initially provided $612 million over five years to support both infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects aimed at improving school travel safety. Today, federal support continues primarily through the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), which was expanded under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The legislation increased funding and broadened eligibility for initiatives that promote walking, bicycling, and SRTS efforts. States typically administer these funds through competitive grant processes, with eligible projects located within two miles of schools serving grades K–8.
This legislation can bring significant benefits to our communities.
The Six Es of Safe Routes to School
The Six Es framework provides a comprehensive strategy to enhance safety and promote active transportation among students. These pillars aim to create safer, more inclusive, and accessible routes for children walking or biking to school, while fostering community engagement and long-term health benefits. Successful SRTS programs incorporate the following six components:
- Education – Teaching students and families about safe walking and biking practices through classroom and outdoor activities, posters, and interactive games.
- Encouragement – Hosting themed school events such as Bike Hero Awards, Park & Walk programs, and International Walk to School Day to make active travel fun and rewarding.
- Equity – Engaging school staff, parents, and community members in every phase—from planning to implementation—to ensure solutions reflect local needs.
- Evaluation – Conducting safety audits, public surveys, and data collection to identify concerns and measure the impact of interventions.
- Engineering – Implementing infrastructure improvements such as speed humps, crosswalks, accessible curb ramps, intersection daylighting, and upgraded signage in school zones.
- Enforcement – Promoting safe driving behaviors through visibility enhancements and collaborating with local agencies to ensure speed limit compliance.
These six pillars work together to create meaningful change in our neighborhoods. By addressing safety from multiple angles—including physical infrastructure, behavioral education, community engagement, and increased access—the SRTS framework supports comprehensive and sustainable improvements, benefiting children and families across various neighborhoods and contexts.
What’s Next: Putting the Six Es into Action
Now that we have introduced the Six Es framework, some might wonder: what does this actually look like in practice? How do planners, engineers, school administrators, and community members work together to transform these principles into real, tangible improvements in school zones?
In part 2 of this series, we will explore Evaluation, Engineering, and Enforcement. These pillars focus on assessing existing infrastructure, designing context-sensitive solutions, and improving compliance through safety standards. We will explore how these strategies vary across rural, suburban, and urban communities, and share real-world examples of operational and infrastructure improvements that have made school zones safer. From drop-off and pick-up protocols to traffic calming measures, I’ll discuss practical approaches that can be adapted to any community’s unique needs. Part 3 will focus on Education, Encouragement, and Equity. These are the community engagement pillars that promote these SRTS improvements so they are embraced, implemented, sustained, and accessible to all students and families.
This series equips transportation professionals looking to implement SRTS in a specific jurisdiction, school administrators seeking to launch a SRTS program, and parents advocating for neighborhood changes with the knowledge and tools to make SRTS a reality in any district. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll delve into the details of developing safer school zones.
