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COMPONENTS OF A GOOD SRTS PROGRAM

Walking or biking to school allows children the chance to enjoy the fresh air, helps them to feel empowered with a sense of freedom and responsibility, provides them with opportunities to become more aware of and engaged in their communities and neighborhoods, and helps them to arrive at school alert, refreshed and ready to learn. To be effective, the SRTS program utilizes the "5 E's" of traffic safety: Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering and Evaluation.

• EDUCATION - Teach children, educators and parents about traffic laws and safe and courteous behavior on the road. Students also learn about the health, environmental and safety benefits of walking and bicycling. There are many different education programs available (see resources). The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Safe Routes to School education component consists of two curricula:
  • Walking Wisdom, a 2 hour course taught over 2 days which focuses on pedestrian safety. This class is open to 2nd and 3rd graders. In the Walking Wisdom course, students spend approximately 2/3 of the time in class, and the remaining 1/3 of the time is spent outside, where learning is put into action.
  • Bike Driver's Ed, a ten hour course taught over ten days which focuses on street bicycle safety. This class is open to 6th graders. During Bike Driver's Ed, students spend approximately 4 hours in a classroom setting, and approximately 6 hours on bike. Of those six hours, approximately half takes place in the school parking lot or playground area, where students are given the opportunity to practice and hone their skills in a traffic-free, controlled setting. Once the students feel comfortable and prove their abilities, the classroom is moved to the streets of the community in which the school is located, where students practice safe riding skills in the neighborhoods in which they live and learn.
• ENCOURAGEMENT - Make walking and biking more attractive to students by planning special events and contests to celebrate active travel. Walk and Bike to School Day and Walking School Buses are two popular examples.
• ENFORCEMENT - Use local law enforcement to ensure drivers obey traffic laws. In Milwaukee, close to 3000 citations have been issued in school zones.
• ENGINEERING - Working with communities, schools and students to survey the neighborhoods in which participating schools are located. The results are used to plan and create physical improvements to the infrastructure surrounding the school. Examples include traffic calming measures to reduce vehicle speeds and establishing safer crosswalks and pathways.
• EVALUATION - Measurements must be taken before a SRTS program begins and after one is implemented to measure the impact of the program. Both state and national SRTS groups have wonderful evaluation tools so that you do not have to reinvent the wheel.

To read more about Safe Routes to School, click here