ACT 2014 San Francisco Safe Routes to School Program

San Francisco Safe Routes to School Program

Ana Validzic, MPH

SF Department of Public Health

Safe Routes to School Program Need

John Muir Elementary

Fewer kids today walk and bike to school

• 2008: > 15% walking • 1969: < 42% walked

(Report to National Safe Routes Task Force, July 2008)

Resulting in unintended consequences Traffic Injuries Obesity traffic congestion Air quality Crime & violence around school

SRTS programs are part of the solution

Alamo Elementary

Presenter

Presentation Notes

I’m here today to talk about the benefits of walking and bicycling for children, what’s getting in the way and how SRTS programs can help. Let’s begin by framing the issue: A major decrease in the number of children who walk and bicycle to school has occurred over the last generation or so. Today fewer children are walking and biking and more parents are driving. Only a generation ago, children routinely traveled around their neighborhoods either on foot or on bike. Walking and bicycling were common ways to get to school. Today, few children (ages 5 to 18 yr. old) walk or bike.*. And as traffic increases, parents become even more convinced that it is unsafe for their children to walk. They begin driving their children to school, thereby adding even more cars to the morning chaos. VICIOUS CYCLE *U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kids Walk-to-School: Then and Now—Barrier and Solutions. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/then_and_now.htm Accessed: January 17, 2006. This decline has resulted in unintended and far-reaching consequences for both our children’s lives and our own. Parents often state being fear of crime as an obstacle to walking and bicycling to school. Each community has its own issues that inhibit the ability to walk and bike to school. Communities have cited issues like abandoned buildings and stray dogs as disincentives to walking and biking to school. Programs need to identify the real dangers and the perceptions and address both. Whether real or perceived, these fears affect how many children are allowed to walk or bicycle to school. In San Francisco, the school assignment system has led to the unintended consequence of children being assigned to schools that are not within .5 mile radius of their school, which discourages walking and biking. Safe Routes to School programs empower communities to make walking and bicycling to school a safer, more popular way to get to school. Let’s explore these areas in more detail.

Safe Routes to School Program Overview


Goal: to increase walking, biking to/from school • Leading multi-disciplinary team

comprised of SFUSD, City agencies, and nonprofits

• Worked in 15 elementary schools, one in

each supervisorial district for geographic equity

• Will expand to 40 schools starting SY 14-15

Longfellow Elementary School

Presenter

Presentation Notes

School District obviously City agencies are SFPD Traffic Company, MTA Livable Streets and SF Environment Nonprofits are SF Bike, Presidio Ybike, and Walk SF

2013-2014 Program Schools

The FIVE E’s Education Encouragement Engineering Enforcement Evaluation

Presenter

Presentation Notes

SRTS Overview (Ana)

The Five Es- Education • Sets the foundation for safe

behavior and engages students

• Creates safety awareness • Fosters life-long safety

habits • Engages parents, neighbors

and drivers Key Products: • Classroom lessons on

pedestrian and bicycle safety

Longfellow Elementary Pedestrian Safety Class

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Matt and Jared

The Five Es- Encouragement Increases popularity of

walking and bicycling Is an easy way to start SRTS

programs Emphasizes FUN Key products: Walking school buses and

bike trains Parent and caregiver

outreach Walk and Roll to School Day Bike and Roll to School Week

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Nancy

The Five Es- Enforcement • Increases awareness of

pedestrians and bicyclists • Improves driver behavior • Helps children follow traffic

rules Key Product: • Traffic Enforcement

Geary Boulevard

Jefferson Elementary

19th Avenue & Irving St.

Presenter

Presentation Notes

William

The Five Es- Engineering • Creates safer conditions

for walking and bicycling • Can influence the way

people behave

Key Products: • School Prioritization

System for capital improvement projects

• Walk/Bike Maps • School walk audits

Geary Boulevard



Geary Boulevard & Jordan

15th and Capp

Walk audit

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Ellen Partnered with MTA to establish school prioritization system based on UCSF school commute results and injury data First time MTA has established systematic way to prioritize schools for capital improvements MTA now using this system to pursue funding for school infrastructure changes

The Five Es- Evaluation Collect and analyze

how schoolchildren get to and from school

Collect and analyze

surveys from parents on knowledge and attitudes towards walking and biking

Geary Boulevard



Geary Boulevard & Jordan

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Katie/Robin Partnered with UCSF Pediatrics to conduct district-wide school commute study First study to look at school transportation in SFUSD Elementary school data: Walk/Bike mode share: 25% in 2010; 26% in 2011; 26% in 2012 23% of students live within ½ mile of school, another 19% live within ½-1 mi

Accomplishments • Partnered with UCSF Pediatrics to

conduct annual district-wide school commute study

• First study to look at school transportation in SFUSD

• Elementary school data: • Walk/Bike mode share: 25% in 2010;

26% in 2011; 26% in 2012 • 23% of students live within ½ mile of

school, another 19% live within ½-1 mi • Partnered with MTA to establish school

prioritization system based on UCSF school commute results and injury data

• First time MTA has established systematic way to prioritize schools for capital improvements

• MTA now using this system to pursue funding for school infrastructure changes

GW Carver Elementary

Lessons Learned to Improve SRTS • Parent/caregiver outreach is crucial

because they are the decision-makers regarding school commute

• SRTS team will actively recruit parents/caregivers to participate in program at their child’s school

• SRTS team will reach out to families at school events on weekends and at night

• Regular, consistent walking and roll events are essential to meet goal

• School staff unable to lead these events because of liability concerns

• SRTS team will recruit parents/caregivers to lead these events

• SRTS team will provide support and training to these parents/caregivers



SRTS Program Elements 2014-2017 Changes to General Program

• Expand to 40 schools

• 35 elementary, 3 middle & 2 high schools

• Provide targeted outreach and community organizing • Hired team of bilingual outreach

workers to recruit parent volunteers • Will recruit and support parent

champions



Buena Vista Horace Mann

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Program changes based on Alameda County’s SRTS program, successful and most similar to SF SRTS needs dedicated staff of site coordinators to conduct outreach and support parents and school staff Site coordinators will conduct outreach, recruit parents, and support parents and school staff Will staff monthly task forces of parent champions to provide materials and support Staff needs to have language skills needed for diverse SFUSD student body

SRTS Program Elements 2014-2017 Education Deliverables • Shift education in elementary schools

from classrooms to assemblies and after-school programming • Pressures for in-class time have

shifted our focus • Provide SRTS Educators Guide for

teachers to conduct themselves in classroom

• Conduct two assemblies: K-2 grades and 3-5 grades

• Conduct bike rodeos at school events

• Bike clubs for middle school and high schools • Teach youth how to repair bikes, build

bikes and safely ride on city streets • Connect biking and walking to transit



GW Carver Elementary

Presenter

Presentation Notes

School climate is under stress due to budget deficits and demands on instructional time SRTS will streamlining education portion of program Provide assemblies and after-school programming rather than in-class lessons

SRTS Program Elements 2014-2017

Encouragement Deliverables • Organize Walk and Roll to School Day and Bike

to School Week • Train and support walking school buses and

bike trains • Organize fun contests and promotional events

at schools

• Provide tailored information to individual schools • Create school transportation toolkits to schools

outlining walking, biking, transit, and carpool options for each school

• Market toolkits at schools in diverse languages

Evaluation Deliverables

• Conduct classroom travel tallies • Distribute and analyze parent surveys


Student on her way to New Traditions

Elementary

Presenter

Presentation Notes

SRTS needs to tailor information to individual schools Will create tailored transportation demand management toolkits to schools outlining walking, biking, transit, and carpool options for each school Toolkits will include info on free Muni Site coordinators can market these toolkits at schools in diverse languages

Thank you! Ana Validzic SF Dept. of Public Health 30 Van Ness Ave, Suite 2300 San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 581-2478 [email protected]

ACT 2014 San Francisco Safe Routes to School Program

Presentations & Public Speaking

Transcript of ACT 2014 San Francisco Safe Routes to School Program