About Safe Routes to School
Solano Safe Routes to School – Your Kids. Your School. Your Community.
The number of children who walk or bike to school in the U.S. has steadily decreased over the last 50 years. At the same time communities, including those in Solano County, have seen increases in traffic around schools, air pollution, and childhood obesity. To help address these problems, the Solano Transportation Authority (STA) established a Solano Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee and launched the Solano Safe Routes to School Program in 2008. In partnership with Solano County Public Health, the program brings together city planners, traffic engineers, law enforcement, educators and parents to encourage walking and biking to school by creating safer, less congested routes to school.
Successful Safe Routes to School programs include each of the 6 E’s
- Education – ensures children, parents and the community know how to walk, bike and drive safely.
- Engineering – makes sure the streets and sidewalks around schools are built for safety.
- Encouragement – makes it fun for children, parents and the community to walk and bike.
- Enforcement – ensures traffic laws and school policies are followed.
- Evaluation – checks the progress of the program and makes changes as needed.
- Engagement – emphasizes the importance of involving schools, parents, youth and other key stakeholders in the process to ensure program sustainability.
