Ever find yourself banging your head against the wall trying to advance a Safe Routes to School program across multiple schools or even an entire district? Worry not; there are plenty of other goose-egged foreheads (and dented walls) across the country that are in your same shoes. While there certainly are many issues to grapple with, these hurdles can be overcome by forming strong partnerships with those already involved in the process at the school, district and city level. It is ideal to partner with your student transportation department since their job is to move students safely.

The Safe Routes Partnership has been hosting a series of webinars aimed at connecting these partners with Safe Routes to School practitioners through education and mutual understanding. The most recent webinar and action brief, “Maximizing the District-Wide Impact of Safe Routes to School: Educating School District Transportation Departments” worked to inform attendees about the many competing roles and responsibilities of student transportation departments and the multiple strategies that they can approach to support more walking and bicycling to school. Below is a link to a recording of the webinar and both action briefs focused on engaging student transportation departments in Safe Routes to School.

Maximizing District-Wide Impact of Safe Routes to School: Educating School District Transportation Departments

• Watch an audio-visual recording here.
• View Powerpoint slides: Dan Pires, Eureka City Schools - slides; Peter Hurst,  Boulder Valley School District - slides.
• Download the action brief: Safe Routes to School: A Primer for Understanding the Role of Student Transportation Departments
• Download the action brief: Safe Routes to School: A Primer for Student Transportation Departments

Local Practice and Policy, a blog written by Dave Cowan, covers many of the multifaceted aspects of his work here at the Safe Routes Partnership. Focusing on best practices, voices from the field and reflections on the Safe Routes to School movement as a whole, this blog attempts to share a sliver of the good vibes, happy stories, and great people Dave has the pleasure of working with to further Safe Routes to School on a daily basis.