01 | INTRODUCTION
SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL Associated with the environmental, obesity, and social justice issues already noted is the need for options to allow all children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to and from school safely. Many communities struggle with traffic congestion around schools, associated vehicle emissions, perceptions of personal safety,, and development patterns that do not support walking and bicycling. At the same time, children engage in less physical activity than previous generations, which contributes to the obesity epidemic and decreased life expectancies. These issues are closely related, and Safe Routes to School (SRTS) can address them through coordinated action. SRTS use a combination of programs and projects to create, implement, and evaluate their actions. Due to their importance in overall mobility planning, SRTS improvements are often given significant weight in bicycle and pedestrian planning. Safe Routes to School infrastructure best practices is described below.
SCHOOL ZONE INFRASTRUCTURE AND BEYOND SRTS addresses infrastructure needs at schools, as well as along routes to school. Children walk and bicycle to school from locations outside their immediate school zone and often from well beyond the school’s designated walk zone.
ACCESSIBILITY The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines Safe Routes to School’s purpose as a program “to enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school.” An important aspect of enabling all children to walk and bicycle to school is providing accessible infrastructure. Guidelines for making schools sites and routes to school accessible for children with disabilities can be found in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and the Public Rights-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG). The term “pedestrian” includes students using assistive devices like wheelchairs.
RELATIONSHIPS School facilities’ relationship to walkways, bikeways, and roadway crossings can determine the level of comfort and safety a child walking or bicycling to school experiences. All elements are interconnected. The roadway is connected to the sidewalk, the sidewalk is connected to the building and these relationships are critical to the perception of safety and continuity. The most important point is to not place high volume, high speed vehicle routes between sidewalks and adjacent schools because such obstructions add significant conflict points to a child’s walking or bicycling route. Another relationship to consider is the school’s location relative to its students’ homes. A child’s route to school should have a minimal number of busy roadway crossings and school attendance zone boundaries should be drawn with this principle in mind. Effective improvements do not always require substantial funds. For example, signs and paint are relatively inexpensive and can make a significant difference. Such simple improvements can help to build momentum and community interest in making other more substantial improvements. The focus should initially be on easy-to-implement and low-cost solutions, while longer-term improvement needs are identified and the implementation process is begun. High visibility crosswalks, for example, are an effective, relatively low-cost, and easy-to-implement engineering treatment. It is important, however, to follow appropriate crosswalk placement guidelines.
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