Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a national program which aims to encourage children to bicycle and walk to school every day by making it convenient, fun and safe. Safe Routes to School works to stop the decline in children walking and biking to school. In the late 1960s, approximately 50 percent of children walked or biked to school. Currently, less than 15 percent of school children walk or bike to school. As a result, our children today are less active and less healthy.

Walking or biking to school has many benefits. Actively commuting to school may improve your child’s health, his or her environment will be cleaner, and traffic and congestion around your schools will be decreased. Recent research indicates that 20 to 25 percent of morning traffic is due to parents driving their children to school. As a result, traffic congestion has increased around schools, which prompts more parents to drive their children to school, perpetuating the cycle. The health consequences are far-reaching.

Walking or biking to school:

• Provides children with a sense of autonomy
• Allows children to enjoy the fresh air
• Enables children to get to know their neighborhood.
• Helps children arrive to school more alert, invigorated, and ready to start their day!