 Rates of student active travel to school, as estimated by school administrators, were 60 percent higher at schools that participated in SRTS programs (where 32.4% of students walked or biked) than at schools that did not participate (where 20.2% of students walked or biked). In examining the 2012-13 survey, SRTS programming did not differ by the school’s socioeconomic characteristics.
- Conclusions: Active travel is a promising strategy for keeping children physically active and for reducing the adverse health consequences of inactivity, such as childhood obesity. SRTS programs are associated with higher reported rates of children walking or biking to school.
Turner L, Slater S, Chaloupka FJ. . (2014). Elementary School Participation in Safe Routes to School Programming is Associated with Higher Rates of Student Active Travel to School. In H. P. C. Bridging the Gap Program, Institute for Health Research and Policy (Ed.), A BTG Research Brief. Chicago, IL.: University of Illinois at Chicago.
- Purpose: State Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs provide competitive grants to local projects that support safe walking, bicycling, and other modes of active school travel (AST). This study assessed changes in rates of AST after implementation of SRTS projects at multiple sites across four states (Florida, Mississippi, Washington and Wisconsin).
- Measures: AST was measured as the percentage of students walking, bicycling, or using any AST mode. SRTS project characteristics were measured at the project, school, and school neighborhood levels in 53 schools affected by 48 completed Safe Routes to School projects.
- Results: Statistically significant increases in AST were observed across projects in all four states. All AST modes increased from 12.9% to 17.6%; walking from 9.8% to 14.2%; and bicycling from 2.5% to 3.0%. Increases in rates of bicycling were negatively correlated with baseline rates of bicycling.
- Conclusion: State-funded SRTS projects are achieving one of the primary program goals of increasing rates of AS