Safe Routes to Schools and School Travel Plans: An Overview

This article reports information on safe routes to school and school travel plans, based on data gleaned from a United Kingdom-based online survey (Young Transnet). The author summarizes some of the key trends in children's travel, health and social behavior, and the influence of the city environment, focusing on the school journey. The author discusses school travel projects in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States and summarizes policies and practice in the United Kingdom. The author contends that there are strong links between low levels of walking and cycling to school and higher levels of obesity in young people, high levels of car trips to school and higher levels of obesity, and low levels of cycling to school and low levels of cycling to work; one table summarizes the data that supports these contentions. Specific programs and health promotion strategies are described. The author concludes that a thorough, well-funded road safety training program is needed to ensure that all children have at least a basic awareness of active travel, whether their school is engaged in a travel plan or not. Readers are referred to seven websites for more information. KW: SR2S Paper adapted from: Osborne, Paul. Safe Routes for Children: What They Want and What Works. Children, Youth and Environments 15 (1), 2005.