There and Back Again: Safety and Health on the Journey to School

• injury prevention
• public health
• walking or biking to school

Active school transportation (AST) has been associated with children attaining more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and a healthier BMI.^1–3 Similar to Canadian children, US rates of AST declined from 48% in 1969 to 13% in 2009.⁴ There are many reasons for this decline, but parents report distance (62% of respondents), traffic-related injury (30%), and weather (19%) as the top 3 barriers.⁵

There are many benefits to AST. Children in developed countries are not sufficiently active and obesity remains a global threat.⁶ Families driving students to school represent 10% to 14% of US traffic during the morning commute,⁴ and often such trips are less than a half mile. Communities that have invested in infrastructure to promote walking or biking have shown increased property values, improved air quality, reduced urban heat injury, and greater social cohesion.^7–9

In 2005, the US Congress established a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program to improve safety on walking and bicycling routes to elementary and middle schools and to encourage travel between home and school using these modes.¹⁰ SRTS was …

Address correspondence to Gilbert Chien Liu, MD, MS, Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville, 571 S Floyd St, Suite 424, Louisville, KY 40202. E-mail: gcliu001{at}louisville.edu