Welcome to the North Dakota Safe Routes to School Program!

Applications are now being accepted until November 20, 2008.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a program that enables and encourages children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school. It will make walking and bicycling to school a safe and more appealing transportation option. The program facilitates the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.

SRTS is an international movement designed to reach communities. The goal, simply stated, is to increase the number of children safely walking and biking to school. The movement began in Europe and has spread to the U.S. as a means to encourage and enable children to walk and bike to school safely.

Many of us remember a time when walking and bicycling to school was a part of everyday life. In 1969, about half of all students walked or bicycled to school. Today, however, the story is very different. Fewer than 15 percent of all school trips are made by walking or bicycling, one quarter are made on a school bus, and over half of all children arrive at school in private automobiles.

This decline in walking and bicycling has had an adverse effect on traffic congestion and air quality around schools, as well as pedestrian and bicycle safety. In addition, a growing body of evidence has shown that children who lead sedentary lifestyles are at risk for a variety of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Safety issues are a big concern for parents, who consistently cite traffic danger as a reason why their children are unable to bicycle or walk to school.

The purpose of the SRTS Program is to address these issues head on. At its heart, the SRTS Program empowers communities to make walking and bicycling to school a safe and routine activity once again. The Program makes funding available for a wide variety of programs and projects, from building safer street crossings to establishing programs that encourage children and their parents to walk and bicycle safely to school.

Community participation is vital to the success of the SRTS program. By using a multidisciplinary approach, the SRTS program works with the public, schools, parents, and others to identify and improve the ability of students to walk and bicycle to school safely.

Thank you for your interest in the Safe Routes to School Program.