Multistate evaluation of safe routes to school programs

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Transportation Safety
• Childhood Obesity Prevention

Background:

• State Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs aim to enhance active school travel (AST) through competitive grants.
• Understanding the impact of SRTS projects on AST rates is crucial for promoting child health and safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess changes in active school travel (AST) rates following the implementation of state-funded SRTS projects.
• To identify characteristics of SRTS projects associated with increased AST.

Main Methods:

• A one-group pretest and posttest design was employed across 48 SRTS projects in Florida, Mississippi, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• Active school travel (AST) was measured as the percentage of students walking or bicycling, with data analyzed using paired-samples t-tests and bivariate analysis.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant increases in overall AST were observed, rising from 12.9% to 17.6%.
• Walking rates increased from 9.8% to 14.2%, and bicycling rates rose from 2.5% to 3.0%.
• Increases in bicycling were more pronounced in areas with lower baseline bicycling rates.

Conclusions:

• State-funded SRTS projects effectively increase active school travel (AST), aligning with program objectives.
• SRTS initiatives may be particularly effective in promoting bicycling in communities where it is less common.
• The study introduces a framework for ongoing evaluation of state SRTS program impacts.