Promoting safe walking and biking to school: the Marin County success story.
Walking and biking to school can be an important part of a healthy lifestyle, yet most US children do not start their day with these activities. The Safe Routes to School Program in Marin County, California, is working to promote walking and biking to school. Using a multipronged approach, the program identifies and creates safe routes to schools and invites communitywide involvement. By its second year, the program was serving 4665 students in 15 schools. Participating public schools reported an increase in school trips made by walking (64%), biking (114%), and carpooling (91%) and a decrease in trips by private vehicles carrying only one student (39%).
Staunton
Catherine E
CE
National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, USA. cstaunton@cdc.gov
Hubsmith
Deb
D
Kallins
Wendi
W
D000293:Adolescent; D001336:Automobiles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001642:Bicycling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005381:Financing, Organized; D006292:Health Priorities; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D012449:Safety; D012574:Schools; D040241:Social Marketing; D013383:Suburban Population; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*