A long series of powder-coated inverted U-racks provide bike parking for many riders.

School upgrades give designers a chance to think about how built environment affects behavior. People choose activities when they have resources supporting these choices: so it is with active transportation. Lack of safe cycling or walking infrastructure is a discouragement on busy roads. Seeing this, many municipalities are working to create supportive infrastructure for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.

Schools are an excellent place to start, creating habits that can last a lifetime. However, getting kids walking and biking to school requires cultural change. Most kids arrive to school in cars and driving is standard. Creating new habits means making active transportation feel normal—elementary kids don’t want to stand out as doing something strange. Prominent bike racks are an easy but effective first step because bikes and bike racks remain as an example. There is no evidence of a pedestrian after they pass by, but a school bike rack is a reminder there are options available.

Why should active transportation be a goal?

The decrease in active commuting also contributes to the loss of daily exercise in children’s lives. Type II diabetes, once mostly found in adult populations, is a growing concern for minors. The increase in this type of diabetes is linked to lack of exercise.

   Active transportation is not unsafe when adequately resourced..

Safe Routes To School Programs.

One of the ways to combat both traffic and distance is encouraging children to cycle to school. Safe cycling gives a commuter more range in the same amount of time, for the same amount of effort. Children commuting by foot or bike take vehicles out of the traffic snarl around schools.Safe bike infrastructure to and from school, and adequate facilities at school, are necessary to make this an option for families.

Safe Routes to School programs have launched in both the United States and Canada to help support active transport to school. These programs address the challenges families are facing.Studies show that changing the environment calms traffic more effectively than posting signs or having strict laws. A well-designed street discourages inappropriate driving behavior. In over-capacity streets, however, accidents are still more likely to happen. Drivers are more likely to perform atypical maneuvers.

Getting kids moving is also a goal: studies show active commutes help maintain children’s health.Environmental design aimed at riders and walkers is effective at bringing more people to the streets. Separated bike lanes and cycle tracks encourage people of all ages and abilities. New riders often wobble a little. A separated bike lane makes drivers, parents, and students more comfortable with the idea of cycling to school.

What Schools Can Do?

Schools can encourage active transportation through:

>Policy: 6% of parents said their schools have a policy against elementary school children coming to school alone.
>Education: Schools can support young walkers and riders by making street safety an active part of the school culture.
>Walking and riding school buses: For younger kids, getting a group together under the supervision of older children or parents while practicing new skills.
>Modeling: local teachers, staff, and aides who use active transportation are models of the behavior for students.
>Site planning: schools can set up zones for drop-off and pick-up that are displaced from pedestrian and bike routes. Provide ample bike parking for both staff and students.

Why Bike Parking Matters?

At school, bike parking and knowledge of how to use it are essential, because theft deters riders. Seven percent of bike theft victims never replace their stolen bikes. Theft is disheartening, and because bikes are small-value targets compared to cars, they are hard to trace and replace (although new strategies in policing and recovery are being tried all the time).Having solid, unassailable bike racks, and teaching students how to lock a bike successfully, keep would-be robbers from discouraging young new riders.

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