| Safe Routes to School
Safe Routes to School is a movement just taking strong hold in
the United States. Its history dates back to Denmark in the 1970s.
The concept was revived in Great Britain in 1995, in Canada in the late 1990s, and in the Bronx, NY, USA in 1997. However, the current paradigm in which Safe Routes to School exists was really established by Marin County, CA, USA in 2000. Marin County used funding provided through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to develop a pilot program that has proved to be extremely successful. So successful, in fact, that the US Congress expanded the funding to each of the fifty states when they completed the SAFETEALU legislation, the current federal transportation funding authorization law.
The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (BFW) believes that Safe Routes to School addresses the issues of inactivity and the poor health that it causes, improving safety and reducing crashes/injuries/deaths, and improving the quality of life by creating communities scaled for people. The challenges of Safe Routes to School are the prevalence of the car culture in America, non-neighborhood-based schools, the perception of “Stranger Danger,” and legitimate traffic-related safety concerns. We believe that a successful Safe Routes to School program integrates education of children, parents, teachers, elected officials, planners, engineers, and other community members; encouragement of children to bike and walk, enforcement of traffic laws, and appropriate engineering of transportation facilities. All four approaches are integral to a complete program. A successful Safe Routes to School program also includes active participation by many sectors, including the municipality, the schools, the neighborhoods, the parents, and the kids.
The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin has been involved with Safe Routes to School formally since around the time that Marin secured its pilot program funding, but we had been working on the issue (though without a snappy title) since our inception in 1989. Indeed our mission is to make Wisconsin a better place to bicycle.
BFW's Safe Routes to School Projects include:
Dane County Bike to School: 2000-2006
BFW taught 12 hour safety curriculum to middle school students.
Safe Routes to School Milwaukee: 2004-2007
Ongoing program through Milwaukee public schools to teach elementary students to bike and walk safely. 1,300 students have been taught in 3 semesters. See the Overview!
Safe Routes to School Madison: 2002
One month educational program at two Madison middle schools sponsored by Trek Corporation.
Milwaukee Bicycle Crash Mapping: 2004
In collaboration with the Department of Transportation-Bureau of Transportation Safety, BFW mapped bicycle crash locations for the City of Milwaukee using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). This information was then used as part of the overall Milwaukee Safe Routes to School program.
Madison Safe Routes to School Map: 2005
A contract for the City of Madison to create safe walking maps and parent drop-off maps for two elementary schools, BFW plans to assist the City with mapping the remainder of the schools as well
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Potential partners with an interest in
"Safe Routes to School"
should contact Jessica Wineberg at 414-431-1761 or jessica@bfw.org.
Pilot School Plans of Milwaukee Safe Routes Campaign: Walk Safe Drive Aware Overview (download this 48 pg, 3 MB .pdf file)
Bicycle Federation's Safe Routes to School Curriculm, Walking Wisdom and Bike Driver's Ed, is available for download (the file is a large pdf). Any nonprofit organization or school may use the materials as long as they give credit to the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. Permission is not given for for-profit organizations to use these materials without special permission.
Wisconsin DOT Safe Routes to School Program
(link goes off site)
SRTS Update for June 2007 (not full newsletter) |
