The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is striving to make streets near San Francisco’s public and private schools safer for walking, bicycling and public transportation by working collaboratively with schools to develop creative solutions for student-related traffic concerns.
“The SFMTA is committed to working with schools to reach beyond the classroom to demonstrate habits for safer walking, better health, and improving our communities,” said Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., former SFMTA executive director.
The School Area Safety Program coordinates with other city departments and the San Francisco Unified School District to provide adult crossing guards, traffic enforcement, school crosswalks, school warning signage, and school bus and passenger loading zones. The program also leverages regional, state and federal grant funds to make safety-focused infrastructure improvements near schools such as curb extensions, pedestrian refuge islands, and traffic signals.
The School Area Safety Program also provides services to educate students, parents/guardians, and school staff on pedestrian and traffic safety. Students are encouraged to walk and bike to school to better their health and protect the environment. In collaboration with the San Francisco Safe Routes to School Partnership, the SFMTA meets with school principals to arrange presentations to parent-teacher associations and school site councils to discuss these issues. Educational and encouragement materials provided include informational brochures, Walk to School Day toolkits, Bike to School Day toolkits, and classroom activities.
WALK TO SCHOOL DAY IS OCT. 3
Since its inception in California in 1999, SFMTA has been a sponsor of San Francisco’s annual Walk to School Day. Held the first week in October, this event promotes good health, safety, physical activity, and concern for the environment by encouraging travel to and from school by foot or bicycle and on public transportation.
This global event gives children, parents, school staff, and community members an opportunity to work together to make their communities safer and more pleasant for walking.
In 2009, the SFMTA sponsored the first annual Bike to School Day event in San Francisco. This springtime event helps promote safe bicycling for children and their families to school. It also encourages many families to try bicycling to school for the first time. San Francisco’s Bike to School Days will start on Monday, April 22, 2013.
You can find out more about both of these events at www.sfsaferoutes.org.