About Safe Routes

Middle School Landing Page photo showing several children on bikes along a bike path.

The Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) Program serves to help Alameda County students and their families walk (by foot or mobility device) or bike to school safely and confidently.

The program is a collaboration between many partners—transportation, public health and planning professionals; school communities; community groups; and families. Together, these partners help the program meet its mission using what we refer to as the 6 Es—education, encouragement, engineering, engagement, and evaluation— all while considering how equitable our services are and how we can use our program to increase equitable outcomes throughout the county.

You can read more about the 6 Es and the initiatives shaped around each below:

Education

Education programs improve traffic safety and awareness. Classroom activities in the K-5 Walk and Roll Educator Guide teach students how to navigate busy streets and make the connection between active transportation, health, and the environment.

Encouragement

Encouragement programs provide incentives and support to help students and families try walking or bicycling instead of driving. Walk and Roll to School Days and other events show that walking and bicycling can be fun.

Engineering

Engineering, in the form of walk audits, bring engineering experts to assist the community in evaluating streets and identifying improvements for walking and biking to school.

Evaluation

Evaluation programs help schools measure walking and bicycling. Regular parent surveys and student hand-raising tallies indicate how students get to school and what barriers parents feel should be addressed.

Engagement

Engagement means working alongside students, families, teachers, school leaders, and existing community organizations to build long-term capacity and sustainable programming. Intentional and active engagement is a core principle of the SR2S Program.

Equity

Equity ensures support for safe, active and healthy opportunities for ALL students in Alameda County.

 

The program began as a Caltrans grant-funded program in 2006, expanding from pilot programs at two schools in Oakland. In 2007, the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority (now the Alameda County Transportation Commission) authorized funding from the Measure B transportation sales tax to continue and expand the program. Today, the Alameda County SR2S Program serves over 250 schools and has a presence in every city in Alameda County. The program is administered by the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) and is funded by Alameda County’s local sales tax Measure B, regional, state and federal funds.

The chart below further explains how the SR2S Program has evolved since its inception in 2006:

Iine graph showing increasing participation in SR2S programing since 2006

Number of schools enrolled in the Alameda CTC SR2S Program by year.