-term investment; identify key partnership leaders; have strong evaluation components to monitor progress and success; involve partners when relevant to them; build on small success and community response; and collaborate with preexisting groups, including youth groups”
- Data collection methods varied across studies, and tools were often not provided, making it difficult to assess effective evaluation strategies.
- This study conducted a qualitative review of 15 journal articles about Safe Routes to School programs in the U.S. and Canada.
Elementary schools were more than twice as likely to have a walking school bus (WSB) if district and state policies supported safe active transportation than if no such policies were in place.
- The percentage of schools nationally with WSB programs increased from 4.2% in 2008-2009 to 6.2% in 2009-2010.
- Schools were 2.14 times as likely to organize a WSB program if a district policy concerning safe active transport to school was in place than if no policy existed.
- Schools were 2.72 times as likely to have a WSB program if state law required school crossing guards than if no law existed.
- WSB programs were more common in the Northeast (10.9% of schools) and West (7.9%) than in the South (2.9%).
- Rural schools were 73% less likely to implement a WSB program than urban schools.
- Schools with a majority Latino population were 78% times less likely to have a WSB than schools with a majority white population.
- Data was collected through responses to a mail survey from 641 elementary schools in 2008-2009 and 680 elementary schools in 2009-2010.
Turner, L., Chriqui, J.F., & Chaloupka, F.J. (2013).Walking School Bus Programs in U.S. Public Elementary Schools. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 10, 641-645.
Tags: physical education; education; training; bicycle; biking; students; school; safety
- The Bike Smarts skills program incorporated bike skills into elementary and middle-school physical education curriculum to address parents’ safety concerns related to biking and encourage more students to bike to school.
- The Bike Smarts program, developed by the SRTS coordinator to fit into existing physical education curriculum, consisted of four class sessions with components both in and outside the classroom.
- When teaching the program, elementary and middle schools could reserve use of a trailer, bikes, and helmets purchased for shared use by the district.
- Additional considerations in program development and implementation included bike maintenance, appropriate sizes of helmets, and teacher and student skill level.
- A $50,000 Safe Routes to School grant from the North Carolina SRTS Program funded development of the program for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WSFCS) in North Carolina.
Wallace, J.L. & Sutton, N.P. (2015). Biked Skills Training in PE is Fun, Keeps Kids Safe. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance. 86(2), 41-46.
- Municipal officials’ involvement in local transportation policies for pedestrian and bicycle safety may be related to levels of collaboration, perceived importance of issues, and support from the public.
- Higher perceived resident support of local government to address economic development and traffic congestion through changes in the built environment was associated with increased likelihood of municipal official involvement in development, adoption, or implementation of transportation or public works policy to increase pedestrian or bicycle safety (OR= 1.70).
- Perceived importance of health topics was not influential in municipal officials’ transportation policy participation.
- Municipal officials who perceived lack of collaboration among departments as a barrier were less likely to be involved in transportation policy (OR = 0.78).
- Municipal officials who lived in the city or town where they worked were more likely to be involved in transportation policy (OR=1.83).
- This online cross-sectional survey gathered responses from 461 municipal officials from public health, planning, transportation, public works, community and economic dev