Safe Routes to School Putting Traffic Safety First

Source: Kristin Gavin, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, December 2009

From a School Transportation News article:
While state and federal programs continue to advocate students walking and biking to school to achieve physical fitness and mitigate traffic congestion and resulting pollution, the children who utilize these modes of transportation are open to significantly more injuries and fatalities than if they rode the school bus.

The five-year, $612 million federal Safe Routes to School Program passed in 2005 is currently up for reauthorization the of surface transportation act (SAFTEA-LU). But, the National Safe Routes to School Task Force estimated that the funds will only reach about 7.5 percent of U.S. schools in the United States, and only for a portion of their needed infrastructure improvements and programming. In response, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership is calling on Congress to increase funding by $600 million.