The U.S. federal Safe Routes to School program was established and funded in 2005. Of the $147 million made available to states for Safe Routes in fiscal 2008, 10 to 30 per cent must be used for "non-infrastructure" projects, which includes bike safety education for school children. Bike advocacy organizations throughout the United States are partnering with local school districts to teach bicycle safety.
The Cascade Bicycle Club (CBC) in Seattle, Washington trains school teachers to teach elementary school children about helmet use, nutrition, traffic signs, hand signals, and the ABC Quick Check (air, brakes, chain). About 90 teachers in the Seattle, Highline, and Lake Washington school districts are expected to teach bike safety to 12,000 students this year.
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) in Portland, Oregon developed the state-wide Bicycle Safety Education program for fourth through seventh graders. Schools that implement BTA's program see a 24 per cent increase in walking and biking to school over the previous year.
But it is Longmont, Colorado that has perhaps the most effective Safe Routes education program in the nation; it boasts participation rates of 80 to 90 per cent on the designated walk/bike to school day at the five elementary schools in the program. PE instructors teach the rules of the road, sidewalks, driveways, and how to get across intersections. They also talk about where to go for rides besides just to school, such as to the ice cream store, to a friend's house, or to a park.
While Safe Routes is an easy sell to administrators and teachers, parents sometimes need more convincing. "Parents don't understand at first how it's safer until they see it," says Buzz Feldman, the Safe Routes coordinator in Longmont. "Then they see traffic isn't a danger because there are no cars out there. Because there are 200 other kids out there with their parents, scary people are not an issue."
"At Columbine Elementary School in Longmont we went from 189 cars before the program to 30 cars. It's an amazing success," says Feldman. "At Fall River Elementary School there's a phenomenal 80 per cent participation and the parents really push it there. The bumper to bumper long line of cars that used to be there is gone!"
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