Safe Routes to School
Before we get started on Safe Routes to School, if you’re looking for information about the GLENDALE HISTORY RIDE, please scroll down this page or CLICK HERE.
Safe Routes to School is a program designed to encourage students to walk or ride a bike to school instead of being driven by car. Why is this important? Because obesity rates are going up in this country and children are developing Type 2 Diabetes (which used to be called Adult-Onset Diabetes). And there are numerous other health concerns related to physical inactivity as well as environmental concerns that come from reliance upon the automobile. Here are a few statistics:
• 40% of Glendale residents are completely sedentary and 19% report irregular exercise.
• 31.7% of seventh graders and 27.2% of ninth graders in the Glendale Unified School District need improvement in terms of aerobic capacity.
• Glendale ranks 40th out of 133 cities and communities in Los Angeles County for premature mortality caused by heart disease and stroke.
• Countries with the highest levels of cycling and walking generally have the lowest obesity rates.
• Active commuting that incorporates cycling and walking is associated with an overall 11% reduction in cardiovascular risk.
• Half of U.S. schoolchildren are dropped off at school in the family car. If 20% of those living within two miles of school were to bike or walk instead, it would save 4.3 million miles of driving per day. Over a year, that saved driving would prevent 356,000 tons of CO2 and 21,500 tons of other pollutants from being emitted.
• In one generation, the percentage of children who walk or bike to school in the U.S. has dropped from 50% to 15%.
More Information
If we get children walking and biking to school, it will provide some of the daily exercise they need and will eventually lead to healthier lifestyle habits that they will carry into adulthood (and then teach to their children). If you want more information about why it’s important to encourage walking and biking among children, click here.
Palm Bay Elementary, Palm Bay, Florida
There is a Safe Routes to School Program for the State of California and a federal program for the entire country. Each program offers money that can be used for building projects that encourage walking or biking to school. This includes things like building sidewalks (if there are none), striping crosswalks (or improving them), striping bike lanes, installing bike racks, etc. While most of the funding is used to build infrastructure, part of the funds can be used for starting programs that will educate and encourage children to walk or bike to school. This includes safety training that’s age appropriate (both for walking and biking) as well as events and/or contests that will motivate children to participate.
The Five E’s
For a Safe Routes to School Program to succeed, there are “Five E’s” that must be implemented.
1. Engineering – infrastructure that supports walking or biking to school
2. Education – education programs for children and the community
3. Enforcement – prevention of dangerous activities through ticketing and other methods such as community programs that support the work of law enforcement officers
4. Encouragement – events and/or contests that will motivate children to participate. This also includes volunteer-driven programs such as Walking School Buses and Bicycle Trains. Encouragement programs have to be fun in order to engage students and be successful.
5. Evaluation – methods to identify goals and to measure the success of the program
More information about the Five E’s can be found here.
Monarch Elementary School, Louisville, Colorado
What You Can Do
There was an article in the Glendale News-Press about a workshop held on Friday March 27 to launch Safe Routes to School in Glendale. As a partnership between the City and the School District, the immediate focus is on six schools – Wilson Middle School, Verdugo Woodlands Elementary, Balboa Elementary, Columbus Elementary, Dunsmore Elementary, and White Elementary. The project will soon go city-wide. Keep your eyes and ears open for future meetings to address problems at each school in Glendale. Glendale Unified School District is forming an advisory Committee to meet on April 23 and May 14. Contact the GUSD for more details. It’s especially important for parents and community members to be involved. Safe Routes to School is a collaborative effort that has proven to be successful in numerous communities across the country. There is every reason to believe this program can be successful in Glendale.
