Safe Routes
Volume 5, Number 1 - Winter 2001
But as Don Eunson, program coordinator for the Safe Routes to Schools project in Arlington, Massachusetts, explains, "We can't sell parents on the idea of having their children walk to school unless we respond to the concern that their children be safe." His observation that safety is the foremost concern parents have about their children walking or bicycling to school is confirmed by research conducted by both projects.
Both projects use comprehensive approaches to promote walking and bicycling. And both projects work with coalitions of community volunteers, school staff, local walking and bicycling advocates, public works departments, and local law enforcement agencies to safeguard young pedestrians and bicyclists by mapping safe routes to schools, identifying areas in need of physical improvements or enhanced enforcement, sponsoring Walk and Bike to School Days, and bringing pedestrian and bicycle training programs to schools.
Both projects develop strategies and activities that respond to the needs of the communities in which they work. In Marin County, a Share the Road campaign encourages motorists to be more considerate of pedestrians and bicyclists. In Arlington, a "sidewalk inventory" revealed that several key streets within a quarter-mile of one elementary school lacked sidewalks. The project is now working with parents and town officials to have sidewalks built on those streets.
The programs are succeeding. The Marin County program achieved a 57-percent increase in the number of children walking to school and a similar increase in the number of children bicycling to school between fall 2000 and spring 2001. The Arlington effort is also showing results. Both programs found community allies and funding that allowed them to continue and expand their work after the demonstration grants expired.
For more information about the Marin County program, contact Wendi Kallins of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition by telephone at (415) 488-4101 or e-mail at wkallins@igc.org, or visit the website www.saferoutestoschools.org. For more information about Arlington's program, contact Don Eunson of WalkBoston by telephone at (617) 522-0656 or e-mail at deunson@gis.net, or visit the website www.walkboston.org.
Thirty years ago, more than 65 percent of American children walked to school. Today, less than 10 percent walk. Two NHTSA-funded Safe Routes to Schools demonstration projects are developing strategies to help reverse this trend. Wendi Kallins, coordinator of the Marin County project, explains the dual nature of the problem:Children are becoming more sedate, less active, and less independent. One in five children, and one in three teens, is overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. This represents a 50 to 100 percent increase in just the past 10 years. At the same time, traffic is at an all-time high. School-related traffic is a major contributor to this congestion. In Marin County [California], 21 percent of morning traffic is related to school travel. Surveys in other areas of the country show figures ranging from 20 to 30 percent. A change in the way children travel to school could have a major effect on the morning commute.
Top of Page
http://www.edc.org/buildingsafecommunities/vol5_1/safe.htm
|
IN THIS ISSUE
NAGHSR Looking for Impaired Driving Prevention Programs
Safe Routes to Schools Resources
Reaching African Americans Through Physicians
|