Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Safe Routes To School Program

MISSION: SRTS is an approach that promotes walking, bicycling, and rolling to school through infrastructure improvements, enforcement, tools, safety education, and incentives to encourage walking, bicycling, and rolling to school.

BACKGROUND: The safe routes to school (SRTS) concept began in the 1970s in Odense, Denmark, rooted in concern for the safety of children walking and bicycling to school.

The SRTS concept spread internationally, with programs developing in other parts of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. The Bronx, a borough of New York City, started the first SRTS program in the United States in 1997. In the same year, the State of Florida implemented a pilot program. In August of 2000, the U.S. Congress funded two SRTS pilot projects through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Within a year of the launch of the pilot projects, many other grassroots SRTS efforts began throughout the United States.

Resources:

VDOT: Safe Routes to School

VDOT: Safe Routes to School Guide

Arlington County: Vision Zero

APS: Walking School Bus

APS: Safety Tips for Walking, Biking and Rolling to School

APS: Bus Eligibility Maps (Walk Zones)