Safe Routes to School

Bike Bakersfield's Safe Route to School program (SRTS) is a program that enables and encourages walking and biking to and from school. The SRTS program integrates health, fitness, traffic relief, environmental awareness and safety under one program. This program will offer the children of our community a healthy lifestyle and a safer and cleaner environment for everyone.

Walking or biking to school protects the environment and your health. When children decide to lace-up their sneakers to walk, or strap on their bike helmets to pedal to school instead of riding in a car, they reduce the amount of air pollutants emitted by automobiles.

There are plenty of great reasons to walk to school—less traffic, safer streets, cleaner air—but one of the best is that children and parents will be healthier.

This video was the summer project of a team of Jim Burke Education Foundation Dream Builders with the support of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. It highlights the valuable programs of Bike Bakersfield.

International Walk and Bike to School Day

Bike Bakersfield participated in International Walk and Bike to School Day on October 5, 2011. See the story and interviews at KGET.com.

Walk and Bike

Participating Schools:

  • Standard Middle School
  • Highland Elementary
  • San Lauren Elementary
  • Almondale Elementary
  • Rafaello Palla Elementary
  • Amy B. Seibert Elementary

Letter from the Director (8-15-11)

It's hard to believe that I have been hard at work here at Bike Bakersfield for close to three years now, A lot has happened in those three years, we have made advances in working with our City and County Officials, we have developed great working relationships with other agencies around the county whose focus is cleaner air and healthier living. This year has seen an increase in the number of community members who have come to understand the mission of Bike Bakersfield and have joined forces in getting the message out that BICYCLING is the simplest solution to many of our local air and health problems.

Because school is about to be back in session I would like to focus just for a moment on our Safe Routes to School Program. This program has been instrumental in helping the youth of our community learn the importance of walking and biking to school and this year we will be expanding our program to three additional schools. However our work does not stop there we want to encourage all the children in the County of Kern to experience the liberating feeling one gets with walking and biking to school. By walking and biking to school our children are giving back to our community by helping to "spare the air", they are helping to keep themselves healthy because walking and biking is a form of exercise that helps them to more alert and attentive in class.

http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/program-tools/what-are-health-benefits-children-who-walk-or-bicycle-school/

We know that at times it is necessary to drive so we ask that as a driver you slow down in the school zone and be aware that there are children walking and biking to school. Be courteous with other drivers in and around the school zone and respectful of school officials who are only looking out for the safety of our children. So I would like to encourage all who can to walk and bike if possible with your child to school and allow them the experience of becoming a healthier more active child while giving back to the community. The link below will give both walking and driving tips to help keep everyone safe. Please remember it's for the safety of our children.

http://www.walkinginfo.org/why/tips_walking-safely.cfm

Why is Safe Routes to School important?

Thirty years ago, 60% of children living within a 2-mile radius of a school walked or bicycled to school. Today, that number has dropped to less than 15%. Roughly 25% commute by school bus, and well over half are driven to/from school in vehicles. And back then, 5% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 were considered to be overweight or obese. Today, that number has climbed to 20%. These statistics point to a rise in preventable childhood diseases, worsening air quality and congestion around schools, and missed opportunities for children to grow into self reliant, independent adults.

Many of us remember a time when walking and bicycling to school was a part of everyday life. In 1969, about half of all students walked or bicycled to school.1 Today, however, the story is very different. Fewer than 15 percent of all school trips are made by walking or bicycling, one-quarter are made on a school bus, and over half of all children arrive at school in private automobiles.2

This decline in walking and bicycling has had an adverse effect on traffic congestion and air quality around schools, as well as pedestrian and bicycle safety. In addition, a growing body of evidence has shown that children who lead sedentary lifestyles are at risk for a variety of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.3 Safety issues are a big concern for parents, who consistently cite traffic danger as a reason why their children are unable to bicycle or walk to school.4

Safe Routes to School Programs are intended to reverse these trends by funding projects that improve safety and efforts that promote walking and bicycling within a collaborative community framework. It is through local champions working with a coalition of parents, schools, professionals in transportation, engineering, health, law enforcement that the most sustainable projects are expected to emerge.

1"Transportation Characteristics of School Children," Report No. 4, Nationwide Personal Transportation Study, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC, July 1972.
2"Data from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey conducted by Federal Highway Administration were used as the source."
3"Physical activity and the health of young people," U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fact Sheet, 2004.
4"Barriers to Children Walking and Biking to School," CDC, 2005.