Safe Routes to School Improving Health, Safety and Transportation Lenexa, KS

The need for Safe Routes to School 1.Fewer kids today walk and bike to school 2.Unintended consequences have resulted 3.SRTS programs are part of the solution

1. Fewer kids are biking and walking. More parents are driving.  2001: 16% walked  1969: 42% walked (CDC, 2005)  Parents driving children to school 20%-25% of morning traffic

What caused the shift?

School siting issues: A generation ago  Small schools  Located in community centers (EPA, 2003)

School siting issues: Today  Mega-schools  Built on edges of towns and cities School consolidation has lengthened the trip between home and school School consolidations have lengthened the trip between home and school School consolidations have lengthened the trip between home and school

It’s not just distance Students who live within 1 mile and walk or bike: 2001: 63% 1969: 87% (CDC, 2005)

Most common barriers to walking and bicycling to school  Long distances62%  Traffic danger30%  Adverse weather19%  Fear of crime danger12% Note: Sum of percentages is more than 100% because respondents could identify more than one barrier. (CDC, 2005)

Traffic danger

Adverse weather Howard’s Grove, WICentreville, VA

 Fear of crime (both real and perceived)  Abandoned buildings  Other reasons Individual community issues

2. What are the unintended consequences of less walking and bicycling?  For individual health

Physical inactivity  Most kids aren’t getting the physical activity they need  Recommended 60 minutes on most, preferably all, days of the week (US Depts. of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, 2005)

1995 Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1990, 1995, 2005 (*BMI 30, or about 30 lbs overweight for 5’4” person) No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 2006 (*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs. overweight for 5’ 4” person) <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

U.S. youth overweight rates (National Center for Health Statistics)

South Dakota School Height and Weight School Year At Risk For Overweight and Overweight Body Mass Index By Age AgeNumber Of Students At Risk For Overweight OverweightAt Risk For Overweight and Overweight Combined 5-8 years14, %15.5%31.6% 9-11 years14, %18.1%35.3% years12, % 34.2% years4, %16.7%34.5% Total45, % 33.8%

Overweight children have an increased risk of…  Type 2 Diabetes  Low self esteem  Decreased physical functioning  Obesity in adulthood  Many other negative emotional & physical effects (Institute of Medicine, 2005)

3. Safe Routes to School programs are part of the solution…...to improve walking and bicycling conditions...to increase physical activity Dallas, TX

More benefits of SRTS programs  Reduce congestion around schools  Encourages community unity and involvement  Increase child’s sense of freedom, help establish lifetime habits, teach pedestrian and bicyclist skills

Elements of SRTS programs  Education  Encouragement  Enforcement  Engineering  Evaluation Lenexa, KS

Education  Imparts safety skills  Creates safety awareness  Fosters life-long safety habits  Includes parents, neighbors and other drivers Chicago, IL

 Increases popularity of walking and bicycling  Is an easy way to start SRTS programs  Emphasizes fun Encouragement Elmhurst, IL

Enforcement  Increases awareness of pedestrians and bicyclists  Improves driver behavior  Helps children follow traffic rules Denver, CO Richmond, VA

Engineering  Creates safer conditions for walking and bicycling  Can influence the way people behave West Valley City, UT

Evaluation Is the program making a difference?

Safe Routes to School goals  Where it’s safe, get children walking and biking  Where it’s not safe, make changes Winston-Salem, NC

South Dakota Safe Routes to School Angela Olson Safe Routes to School Coordinator Department of Transportation Online March 3 rd National Center for Safe Routes to School

Statistics  A pedestrian struck by a car traveling at 40 mph has a 15 percent chance of survival. At 30 mph there is a 55 percent chance of survival. At 20 mph there is an 85 percent chance of survival (U.S DOT)  Seventy-three percent of children between 5 and 9 years old killed in accidents were riding in cars (NHTSA)  Forty-six percent of traffic crashes involving kids as pedestrians occur when a child darts out into the street (NHTSA)  Fifty percent of children who are hit by cars near schools are hit by cars driven by parents of other students (WSDOT)  Less than 1 percent of children aged 7-15 now ride bicycles to school, a decrease of more than 60 percent since the 1970’s (Surface Transportation Policy Project, Caught in the Crosswalk)  Sixty-one percent of adults would walk more if they had safe, secure paths (Pedestrian Federation of America)  It takes about 10 minutes to walk a quarter of a mile or bike an entire mile (PFOA)  Traffic Calming reduces collision frequency by 40 percent, vehicle insurance claims by 38 percent, and traffic fatalities by 50 percent (Insurance Company of British Columbia)