Safe routes to school program in California increases active commuting behaviour

(3.) Staunton, et al. (2003). Promoting safe walking and biking to school: the Marin County Success Story. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1431-1434

Target Group: School-aged children (elementary and middle)

Program Name: Safe Routes to School (Marin County, California)

Location: Southern United States; middle/ upper class community

Study Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-pronged, community-based approach to promote walking and biking to school.

Study Design:
- 15 schools, serving 4665 students
- student transportation surveys conducted during 4 phases: Fall 2000 (commencement of program), Spring 2001, Fall 2001 and Spring 2002
- program evaluation at 2 years post-implementation; program ongoing

Intervention or Program:
- program has 4 paid staff (a program director, founding member who works several hours per week; a full-time educator, a traffic engineer)
- full-time educator works to develop the program’s school curriculum and oversee classroom education of the program
- the traffic engineer assists in identifying and creating safe routes for participating students
- a private consulting firm, hired during the second year of the program oversees and evaluates the program
- combination of funding from public (municipal, state) and private sources has grown to exceed $2 million dollars, most of which is ear-marked for infrastructure changes to decrease traffic dangers to children who are walking or biking;

Impact on Physical Activity:
- participating public school reported an increase in school trips made by walking (64%) and biking (114%)
- participation by the 2 private schools involved (404 children) showed modest or no improvement in active commuting behavior