What is Safe Routes to School?
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are sustained efforts to improve the health and well-being of children by assessing and taking measures to improve walking and biking conditions on the route to school and enabling and encouraging children to walk and bike these routes. In 2005, Congress passed SAFETEA-LU, the federal transportation legislation, and it included funding to establish SRTS programs in every state.
A growing number of communities throughout Virginia have started Safe Routes to School programs, including Alexandria, Arlington, Albemarle County, Charlottesville, Colonial Heights, Martinsville, Roanoke, and Virginia Beach. Look for news about funding for SRTS programs in more Virginia communities under our News page.
This website is designed to be a resource for Virginians interested in starting or enhancing SRTS programs. It provides background on the national initiative, helps you start a program at your school or in your community, and directs you to resources to help your program succeed.
Virginia Selected as One of 10 Project Jurisdictions by SRTS National Partnership
In January of 2007, the SRTS National Partnership initiated the State Network Project in the District of Columbia and nine key states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.
The project creates state networks that bring together advocacy groups, government agencies and other leaders to ensure that the SRTS federal program succeeds and to leverage additional resources, remove barriers to walking and bicycling to schools, and to create an institutional framework for generating long-term policy changes. BikeWalk Virginia is the managing organization for the Virginia State Network, which is chaired by Alexandria Councilman Rob Krupicka.
The goal of the Virginia SRTS State Network is three-fold:
- Increase physical activity in school-aged children in grades K-8 by improving safety and increasing the number of children walking and bicycling to schools.
- Help to ensure success of the federal SRTS program.
- Institutionalize the SRTS program at the state level so that it is not dependent on one short burst of federal funding.
