Safe Routes to School

Program
The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program helps kids and their families walk, bike, and roll to and from school and around their neighborhoods. Through education and infrastructure improvements, we increase safety, encourage physical activity, and much more.
Safe Routes to School image2

Featured content

A group of students in backpacks smiling at each other as they walk two by two on a sidewalk. They all have their hands in their pockets on a chilly, October morning.

About Safe Routes to School

Students and families use different, colorful modes to get to school, "Welcome back to school, Portland!"

Back to School resources

Seven children smile and post for a photo while standing and straddling their bikes on a concrete surface outside of a school.

Safe Routes to School Program Summary 2023-24

Four children and two adults on bikes in the street stopping to smile for the camera.

Sign up for Safe Routes to School emails

Close-up of students’ and caregivers’ jeans and tennis shoes as they walk to school on a sidewalk. PBOT has resources to help plan your route. Photo by PBOT.

Safe Routes to School Frequently Asked Questions

A group of four young children on bicycles. They are stopped on the side of a street, wearing helmets, and smiling.

Transportation safety education programming

An elementary-aged child wearing a backpack and holding a colorful cardboard cutout of a school bus with text that reads, "walking school bus."

How to start a walking school bus

Commissioner Hardesty Visits Bike Bus

How to start a bike bus

Kids and an adult playing on a street at a street fair.

Personal safety on our streets

An illustration of an urban school next to a street with many different types of people traveling around the school, including: walking, biking, wheelchair, skateboarding, scooter, driving in a car, and on a bus.

Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023

A wrench standing upright entwined with a rose encompassed by a white hexagon. Title says Fixing Our Streets Your Dime at Work over a salmon pink background.

Fixing Our Streets and Safe Routes to School

Intersection on NE Alberta Street with crosswalks and people walking

Report non-urgent traffic safety concerns

Contact

PBOT Safe Routes to School

saferoutes@portlandoregon.gov
phone number311

Follow on Social Media

PBOTSafeRoutes
saferoutespdx
YouTube

Related offices, programs, and projects

Walking, biking, transit

Walking, Biking, Transit, and Transportation Safety

A yellow Volvo construction heavy equipment truck scooping leaves on a Portland street.

Transportation

Vision Zero

Vision Zero: Eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries

Events

Parkrose Pedal 2024

The Parkrose Pedal is a youth inspired community cycling and walking event hosted by Parkrose School District in partnership with Portland Bureau of Transportation Safe Routes to School.

11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Community Event
Dozens of bicyclists, young and old, riding down a 20-mph street on a sunny day.

International Walk + Roll to School Day 2024

International Walk + Roll to School Day is a global event that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking and rolling to school on the same day. This year, International Walk + Roll to School Day is Wednesday, Oct. 9!

Community Event
This year [insert community] is celebrating International Walk+Roll to School Day! On October 12, join your classmates and walk or roll to school!

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day 2024

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day gives children the chance to celebrate Ruby’s courage by walking to school and is the perfect opportunity to teach children about the civil rights movement and make connections to today’s collective efforts for change.

Community Event
White text on purple background, "Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day November 14," with a graphic of a young girl in a white dress and shoes walking with a book and ruler.
More events

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