Safe Routes to Schools is a comprehensive and proven approach to increase walking and biking to school with the goal of reducing congestion and harmful pollutants around schools while increasing the safety and physical activity of students. Since 2006, Alameda CTC has prioritized safe walking and biking to schools through its Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) Program.

The program first began as a grant-funded pilot at two schools in Oakland. Today, our scope has expanded to include carpooling and the use of transit, and the program now serves over 295 public elementary, middle and high schools throughout the county—reaching over 172,000 students and their families with educational programs that teach traffic safety and safe behaviors, as well as countywide events that encourage walking, rolling, carpooling, and transit use.

Using the 6 E’s Framework (engagement, equity, engineering, encouragement, education, evaluation) of successful Safe Routes programs, our program offers an abundance of activities and events that address each of the E’s. Once schools enroll in our program, they are assigned a school site coordinator and they have access to all of our program offerings free of charge. Our activities range from pedestrian rodeos and free bike repair via the Alameda County BikeMobile to our high school Youth Task Force, in-class elementary and middle school curriculum for teachers, and school safety assessments.

In January 2020, we completed our first comprehensive program evaluation, which is intended to guide staff in identifying efficiencies, the most successful program elements for different contexts, and recommending future improvements. The Evaluation Reports include robust analysis of the SR2S Program’s growth, impact, and plans for the future—with the goal of continuously improving program elements and program effectiveness, and allocating resources most effectively and efficiently. The complete report is available at alamedacountysr2s.org/our-services/plan-an-event/evaluation.

To learn more about the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools Program, visit alamedacountysr2s.org.

To find out if your school is already participating in the program visit our Participating Schools page.

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Read the SR2S Program Fact Sheet.