An Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School Program
Marlon G. Boarnet (PI)
Dept. of Planning, Policy, and Design
UC-Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-7075
Ph. 949-824-7695
Fax: 949-824-8566
Email: mgboarne@uci.edu
Kristen Day and Craig Anderson (co-PI’s)
Funded by a UCTC Year 14 Research Grant
Overview of the research and tasks
Research Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of urban design in increasing the safety and viability of non-motorized travel, within the specific context of the California Safe Routes to School program.
Tasks: (1) Select SR2S and non-SR2S study sites, (2) Assess neighborhood design, traffic patterns and pedestrian/bicyclist behavior, and attitudes toward non-motorized travel before SR2S project construction, (3) Perform the same assessment after SR2S project construction, (4) Analyze data to infer the effect of SR2S interventions on the safety of the walk to school and on walking and bicycling acitivity, and (5) Document project results.
Key findings / innovations / recommendations
A total of 16 Safe Routes to School (SR2S) sites were selected for this evaluation. For each school site, the study include observations and data collection both before and after the construction of the SR2S project. Data collected before and after include:
¨ Traffic characteristics (vehicle volumes, speeds, and yielding behavior)
¨ Walking volumes
¨ Surveys of parents of 3rd through 5th grade children
¨ Objective measurements of urban form within a quarter mile of each school
Each data item is collected before and after SR2S project construction, allowing an inference about the influence of the SR2S project on traffic characteristics that are related to pedestrian safety (e.g. vehicle speeds) and walking patterns of children and the attitudes of parents regarding pedestrian safety near the school.
Because of the fact that pedestrian environments near schools are relatively under-studied, this project required several innovations.
1. Urban form near schools was measured by an innovative urban design instrument, that allowed a block-by-block objective measurement of detailed characteristics that likely are correlated with walking travel. The urban design measurement instrument from the UCTC research described here provided a foundation for more detailed research on measuring urban form as it relates to physical activity, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
2. The parental surveys provide some of the most detailed information available about travel patterns for elementary school children. This includes data that allow an estimate of modal split for children’s trip to school at each of the 16 SR2S school sites, and detailed information about parental attitudes and behaviors that can be linked to information about the SR2S program, pre-existing urban form, and traffic characteristics to predict patterns of child travel to school.
3. The parent survey also includes information about adult walking behavior, again allowing a detailed study of the links between walking and urban form.
Key findings include:
1. In the first 12 schools studied, 61% of parents surveyed stated that their child traveled to school by private vehicle, and 25% of parents stated that their child walked or bicycled to school.
2. Urban form and traffic characteristics influence the propensity of children to walk to school, although parental attitudes and sociodemographic characteristics are more influential in explaining whether children walk to school.
3. Traffic patterns near schools are highly variable. School sites generally showed dramatic increases in volume and, for many sites, substantial reductions in travel speed near the beginning and end of the school day. At some schools, vehicle volumes increased over 200% during the half hour before the beginning or end of school, while traffic speeds dropped in some cases by as much as 50% and pedestrian volumes often increased by several hundred percent during the same time period.
An expanded evaluation of the SR2S program is continuing with the support of UCTC Year 15 funds. Complete analysis of data from before and after SR2S project construction will be presented in the final report for UCTC Year 15.
References:
Marlon G. Boarnet, Kristen Day, Craig Anderson, Final Report UCTC Year 14 Research Grant: Evaluation of the California Safe Routes to School Construction Program, UCTC, July, 2003.
Tracy McMillan, Walking and Urban Form: Modeling and Testing Parental Decisions about Children's Travel, Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Irvine, July, 2003.