Safe Routes To School - Planning Considerations: Making schools part of our neighborhoods ... again!

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The two greatest challenges to increasing the number of children who walk or bike to school on a regular basis are

1) removing the barriers associated with transportation facilities and motor vehicles

2) the location of the school itself.

Good planning is critical to both prevent these problems and to help fix them where they exist.

The National Center for Bicycling & Walking describes the goal for schools in active communities this way:

Schools are located in neighborhoods. Most children walk or bike to school most days. School sites and facilities serve a wide range of community services and needs.

To realize this vision, a number of objectives must be addressed:

• Locate schools within walking distance of most of the children expected to attend them.
• Make it easy and safe for students to walk or bike to school.
• Design and develop pedestrian and bicycle oriented school sites.
• Strictly control and limit the operation of motor vehicles on and near school sites.
• Plan, develop, and operate school sites and facilities as multi-purpose community centers.

Why Johnny Can't Walk to School
In its report, "Historic Neighborhood Schools in the Age of Sprawl: Why Johnny Can't Walk to School," the National Trust for Historic Preservation contends that public policies, including excessive acreage requirements, funding formulas and planning code exemptions, are promoting the spread of mega-school sprawl on outlying, undeveloped land at the expense of small, walkable, community-centered schools in older neighborhoods.

- Active Facts: Getting Youth Involved In Planning | PDF File 250KB