Implementing Safe Routes to School: Application for the Socioecological Model and Issues to Consider

Abstract

The newly established national Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program has the potential to positively influence individuals, communities, and the environment regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Many communities are applying their interest in physical activity promotion toward creating policies and programs to encourage active travel, though many barriers exist. SRTS legislation provides funds to address some of the barriers and improve the ability of students to safely walk and bicycle to school. SRTS requires that 70% to 90% of the funds be used for infrastructure projects (i.e., engineering treatments, such as sidewalk construction), and 10% to 30% for noninfrastructure activities, such as education, encouragement, and enforcement. The socioecological model (SEM) is widely used in public health and includes five levels of influence on behavior, from individual to public policy. Application of the SEM to SRTS provides a framework for a comprehensive approach to improve active travel to school.

Timing and effect of a safe routes to school program on child pedestrian injury risk during school travel hours: Bayesian changepoint and difference-in-differences analysis

“…Engineering approaches to injury control are often the most effective (Haddon [1980]), and SRTS legislation requires that 70 to 90% of SRTS funds be used for infrastructure projects like sidewalk construction, compared to 10 to 30% for education projects (Levin Martin et al [2009]). Fully 63% of all SRTS projects nationwide involve some change to the built environment.…”

“…A number of studies have demonstrated the impact of SRTS programs on children’s physical activity, such as walking and biking to school, but less is known about the effectiveness of the SRTS program in reducing pedestrian injury risk in school-age children (Cradock et al [2012]; Chriqui et al [2012]; Levin Martin et al [2009]). In a previous analysis of an SRTS program in New York City, we demonstrated the association of SRTS interventions with decreased pediatric pedestrian injury risk (DiMaggio and Li [2013]).…”

National Safe Routes to School program and risk of school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injury

“…sidewalk construction, traffic calming measures, and capital improvements) for pedestrian and bicycle access and the remaining 10% to 30% be used for education, encouragement, and enforcement activities. 10,11 As of 2012, departments of transportation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia had introduced safety improvements at 10,400 of the nations 98,706 elementary and secondary schools for a total cost of $1.12 billion with nearly half of all available funds allocated. 12 …”

Association of the Safe Routes to School program with school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injury risk in Texas

“…As of 2012, departments of transportation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia had introduced safety improvements at 10,400 of the nations 98,706 elementary and secondary schools for a total cost of $1.12 billion, and nearly half of all available funds had been allocated for projects (Cradock et al 2012). Legislation requires that the majority (70% to 90%) of funds be used for engineering and infrastructure projects like sidewalk construction, traffic calming measures, and capital improvements for pedestrian and bicycle access, with the remaining 10% to 30% used for education, encouragement, and enforcement activities (Levin Martin et al 2009). …”

“…Programs have had a demonstrable effect on travel behavior as measured by both self-report and socioecological models of public health interventions (Chriqui et al 2012; Levin Martin et al 2009). A nationally representative study of the impact of school-travel-related laws on active travel by school-age children concluded that in the relatively few states that have laws requiring traffic calming, there has been a demonstrable increase in active travel to school (Chriqui et al 2012).…”