title: Multistate evaluation of safe routes to school programs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  State Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs provide competitive grants to local projects that support safe walking, bicycling, and other modes of active school travel (AST). This study assessed changes in rates of AST after implementation of SRTS projects at multiple sites across four states.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-group pretest and posttest.
  
  
  METHODS
  Florida, Mississippi, Washington, and Wisconsin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Convenience sample of 48 completed SRTS projects and 53 schools affected by a completed SRTS project.
  
  
  METHODS
  State-funded SRTS project.
  
  
  METHODS
  AST was measured as the percentage of students walking, bicycling, or using any AST mode. SRTS project characteristics were measured at the project, school, and school neighborhood levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paired-samples t-tests were used to assess changes in AST. Bivariate analysis was used to identify SRTS project characteristics associated with increases in AST. Data were analyzed separately at the project (n = 48) and school (n = 53) levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant increases in AST were observed across projects in all four states. All AST modes increased from 12.9% to 17.6%; walking from 9.8% to 14.2%; and bicycling from 2.5% to 3.0%. Increases in rates of bicycling were negatively correlated with baseline rates of bicycling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  State-funded SRTS projects are achieving one of the primary program goals of increasing rates of AST. They may be particularly effective at introducing bicycling to communities where it is rare. The evaluation framework introduced in this study can be used to continue tracking the effect of state SRTS programs as more projects are completed.
authors.forename: Orion
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Anne Vernez
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Moudon
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Claybrooke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001642:Bicycling / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012449:Safety; D012574:Schools; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D016138:Walking / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*