Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023

The Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023 tells the story of where we've been, where we're going, and how we're going to get there.

Review the full Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023

Our 2024 refinements

In 2024, we refined our Strategic Plan to make our priorities clearer and more concise—particularly around school circulation. 

Student safety during arrival and dismissal times is one of school administrators' and families' primary concerns. We work with schools to mitigate circulation issues through education, behavior change, and infrastructure improvements. While we focus our encouragement on walking, biking, and rolling, we promote safe travel to school no matter what method students and families use to get there. We believe student safety is everyone's responsibility—whether that means walking, biking, rolling, or driving. 

We recognize that people have different experiences navigating our streets. Safety in the right of way involves not only traffic safety but also personal safety. Our Safe Routes to School education programs teach students age-appropriate skills for identifying threatening interpersonal situations, setting boundaries, and keeping themselves safe. 

These refinements are reflected in the Safe Routes to School Program Summary 2023-24.

An introduction to Safe Routes to School

Safe Routes to School makes it safe, convenient and fun for children of all abilities to bicycle, walk, and roll to school.

When routes are safe, the school commute is an easy way to get the regular physical activity children need for good health. Safe Routes to School initiatives also help ease traffic jams and air pollution, unite neighborhoods, and contribute to students’ readiness to learn in school.

Where we’ve been: our history

Updated: Sept. 13, 2024

• 2000
  • A national conversation begins when California's Marin County Safe Routes to School program is funded.
  • Oregon Walk + Bike to School Committee is formed.
• 2001
  • State of Oregon passes House Bill 3712(known as the "Safe Routes to School Bill")
  • City of Portland partners with five schools to deliver school traffic safety services. Each school receives $2,000 in state grants.
• 2003
  • Portland Community and School Traffic Safety Partnership is established; Safe Routes to School is just one part of the community-based, coalition-led effort to improve traffic safety in Portland
• 2006
  • Safe Routes to School partners with eight schools in three school districts (Portland Public, David Douglas, and Parkrose) to pilot the "5E Tools" in our programming, referring to: education, engineering, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation. 
  • Federal legislation establishes a national Safe Routes to School program.
• 2008
  • Safe Routes to School receives Oregon Department of Transportation grant for curb ramps, curb extensions, pedestrian islands, sidewalks, and pedestrian signal head starts at 11 schools.
• 2010
  • Safe Routes to School receives Oregon Department of Transportation grant for mid-block crossing islands, stormwater management, and curb cuts at four schools.
• 2011-12
  • Together with community stakeholders, Safe Routes to School establishes policies to equitably deliver our programs across Portland with a focus on neighborhoods, families, and students underserved by transportation infrastructure and other resources—adding the sixth “E": equity.
• 2013
  • Safe Routes to School extends to middle schools as part of a three-year grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation—now providing some level of service to more than 100 schools across five districts within the Portland city limits. 
• 2016
  • Portland voters pass Measure 26-173, knowing as Fixing Our Streets, approving a new $0.10 per gallon gas tax for repairing streets. Portland City Council passes a Heavy Vehicle Use Tax on companies operating trucks over 13 tons. Combined, those funds result in approximately $64 million for road maintenance and street safety projects across Portland. The Fixing Our Streets program dedicates $8 million to make routes safer and more convenient for kids to walk, bike, and roll to school.
  • Portland Safe Routes to School serves almost every permanent public elementary, K-8, and middle school in the city, providing resources to over 100 schools across five school districts
• 2017
  • Safe Routes to School hosts open houses and engages families and schools in all five Portland school districts (Portland Public, David Douglas, Parkrose, Centennial, and Reynolds) to gather information about routes students and families were taking to school and barriers they were facing to get there safely.  
• 2018
  • To keep up with our changing city and growing population, the Safe Routes to School team—with the support and guidance of a Stakeholder Advisory Committee—creates the Portland Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023. This plan includes updates to the Safe Routes to School program goals and the strategies to achieve them. 
• 2019
  • Guided by the strategic plan, Safe Routes to School works to make the program more sustainable. One of our goals is to develop a K-12 transportation education program to reach students at each grade level. An example of these updates is transitioning our Bike Safety Education from 4th and 5th grades into a middle school pilot program.
• 2020
  • The Covid-19 pandemic forces us pivot our work:
    • We support families through food delivery and health resources.
    • We develop a program called RECESS! with activities focused on mental, social, and physical wellbeing.
    • We install temporary traffic playgrounds and playspaces to give kids and families places to be outside and active.
    • We create videos to encourage safe biking and rolling skills. 
  • Portlanders resoundingly approved Measure 26-209, a four-year renewal of Fixing Our Streets. Portland City Council renews the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax. Six million is dedicated to school-specific safety and access projects, resulting in $14 million in investments for Portland's youth since 2016.
• 2021
  • As students return to in-person school, we offered support, expertise, and resources to districts, schools, community organizations, and families. 
  • We create the Drive Like It campaign with Metro to remind people to drive safely that ODOT takes statewide. 
  • We work with schools to bring bike and pedestrian education back into classrooms. We bring our Transportation Academy to students at Alliance High School. 
• 2024: 
  • Centennial School District hires their first-ever Safe Routes to School coordinator. 
  • Portland voters renew Portland’s 10-cent gas tax for a third four-year period. Fixing Our Streets will fund $20 million worth of Safe Routes to School projects. Since Fixing Our Streets was first adopted in 2016, it has funded over 300 completed projects with another 60 in development, design, or construction. 
  • We made refinements to our Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023 to make our priorities clearer and more concise.
  • We released our first-ever Safe Routes to School Program Summary report—check it out!

What we do now

Equity

• Prioritize schools with high populations of communities of color, low-income families and limited English proficiency

Encouragement

• Encourage and support walking school buses, bike buses, and park-and-walk programs
• Support schools and volunteers in celebrating walk and roll events
• Share information by newsletter, email blasts, and Facebook posts
• Distribute free travel resources like safety lights and umbrellas to students and families

Enforcement

• Partner with Portland Police Bureau to enforce school zone speeds and other traffic regulations

Education

• Provide pedestrian and bicycle safety education
• Improve pick-up and drop-off conditions with Idle-Free Schools campaign
• Lead Summer Schools Uniting Neighborhoods Bike Safety camps at low-income schools
• Offer walking and rolling resources to families through SmartTrips to School

Evaluation

• Survey families twice a year on school travel habits

Engineering

• Collaborate with traffic engineers to improve school circulation
• Aid parents and schools in navigating city bureaus to solve travel concerns

Gaps and opportunities

We need to reach more students with safety skills education

Under the old model, a limited number of students received in-classroom bicycle and pedestrian safety education each year. Limitations on funding, staff time and use of class time led to a small number of schools participating in the current model.

2017-18 Family Travel Survey responses
“Safe Routes Routes to School had a much bigger presence plus community emphasis while my daughter attended Beach School K-7.” 
- Ockley Green Middle School parent 

“We loved [Safe Routes to School] in elementary school. Middle school is not as welcoming an atmosphere and not as family-oriented, so we heard nothing about it this year.” 
- Mt. Tabor Middle School parent 

“Does Safer [sic] Routes to School help high schools too? Grant High School parents are concerned about kids getting to Marshall campus for the next two years.” 
- Mt. Tabor Middle School parent 

A new approach will provide needed follow-up to build skills as students grow 

Today, only a small percentage of school youth receive active transportation skill-building beyond fourth or fifth grade.

Schools and families need more support

Our school travel survey data highlighted the importance of encouragement. Families who were taking more walk and bike trips attributed the increase to encouragement over any other “E,” including engineering.

Encouragement events and activities help normalize active transportation, but often require extra time from parent volunteers or school staff. Less affluent schools report having fewer of these resources.

Schools with high free/reduced lunch rates, while receiving similar levels of Safe Routes to School education, often don’t participate in or organize as many encouragement events.

School support can also play a role in helping families choose active travel modes. Our 2017-18 travel survey data showed that families who thought their school supported walking, biking and rolling were more likely to travel by one of those modes on their commute to school.

Students of color often have a different experience when traveling in public spaces

Encouraging students and families of color to walk or roll to school can be challenging in the fact of the larger fears and safety concerns in the public right of way. A new approach can include additional tools and support to empower students of color in navigating our streets.

2018-19 Family Travel Survey response
“As a Muslim parent I am worried about my child walking to and from school. I don’t feel it is safe for us wearing our hijab.”
- Floyd Light Middle School parent

At the Intersection of Active Transportation and Equity
“Many people of color experience [racial micro aggressions or brief verbal or nonverbal communications that convey racial slights or hostility (intentional or not)] while walking and bicycling. Whether an isolated incident or regular occurrence, this type of experience can create a hostile environment...”
- Safe Routes Partnership, 2016

Our vision

All students and families can choose active transportation as a safe, convenient, accessible and desirable option for getting to and from school and around their neighborhoods.

Guiding principles

Developed collaboratively with our Stakeholder Advisory Committee, these Guiding Principles will serve as a roadmap for our continued program improvement and expansion.

Equitable

Our programming will prioritize underserved communities

Grounded in partnership

We will collaborate and build strong relationships with schools, parents, other agencies and community organizations

Flexible and inclusive

Our programs will:

• respond to those served by them
• meet the needs of a variety of schools and families
• provide activities to engage groups in different ways

Create culture change

Our programs will inspire and empower parents, students and school personnel to be champions for safety and active youth

Strategic priorities

Safe Routes to School will use these eight priorities to help focus our efforts and target the work areas we want to improve, especially the gaps in our programming. Each priority is listed here, with further details and priority outcomes explained on the following pages.

Safe Routes to School has a sustainable structure that allows for in-school program support

We heard from partners and schools that in-school support is critical for program and community success. Too often, staffing levels and programs rely heavily on volunteers and parents, which isn’t sustainable when parents leave schools and volunteers have other projects. 

A consistent presence in schools is essential to build better relationships, improve contacts and connections, and maintain momentum for students throughout their time in school. 

Each school community has unique opportunities and barriers. An approach that provides resources and capacity for paid support within the school will allow for a better connection between programming and school culture needs.

Priority outcomes

• In-school staff have knowledge, skills and resources to provide Safe Routes to School programming
• Long-term strategy for sustainable funding

Every school has safer access via infrastructure improvements on Primary Investment Routes

There are significant disparities in available infrastructure for safe walking and bicycling at schools throughout Portland. We are working to complete Primary Investment Routes* for each school to reduce the disparities in access for students across the city. 

We are committed to collaborating with school communities to find short- and long-term solutions for safety concerns and barriers families encounter on the way to school.

_{*Primary Investment Routes are streets likely to have the most students walking on them to access a school. They are the streets where Safe Routes will focus projects to create complete, connected routes throughout the 1- to 1.5-mile area “walkshed” of a school campus. Routes were chosen based on a computer model and school community input, then vetted by principals and school leaders.}

Priority outcomes

• Complete Primary Investment Routes
• School communities are aware of the Primary Investment Routes and know how to use them

Program activities for older students are youth oriented and youth driven

We want to ensure Safe Routes to School programs are meaningful for the youth they serve. As we evolve to serve all school-aged students it is critical that materials and programs speak to middle and high school students. Even nationally, very few programs are engaging this older age group in active travel options programming. These students are our newest drivers and active users of our public transit systems. They need information and tools to make their own transportation choices. We are committed to engaging older youth as active participants in programs to meet their needs for information and resources.

Priority outcomes

• High school students are informed and engaged in community dialogue about transportation options and Vision Zero
• Through regular and continuous communication, middle and high school-aged youth can influence the programming
  intended for them

School districts are active leaders and champions of Safe Routes to School program elements 

School districts provide strategic leadership for their school communities. Strong partnerships and buy-in from Portland’s school districts is required to create effective transportation policies and spark culture change in schools.

Priority outcomes

• School districts provide strategic leadership for their school communities around transportation options and safety
• Partnerships with school district staff and superintendents are strong and collaborative

Education campaigns focus on all members of the school community to create a culture of safety 

Getting to school safely is a shared responsibility for everyone traveling to schools in Portland.

Historically, our programs have focused on walking and biking to school, directing education and encouragement to students and families to increase active transportation. While safety for people walking and biking is still a priority, it’s critical that we engage and educate the entire school community about safe travel behavior, no matter how they get there.

Not only do students have concerns about traffic safety, they must also navigate bullying, street harassment and hate speech while traveling to school.

Safe Routes to School programming aims to influence safer behavior around schools and equip students with skills to overcome the challenges they may face as they navigate the city.

Priority outcomes

• School communities report less or no dangerous behavior around schools during arrival and dismissal times

Safe Routes to School programming is responsive to school culture

Every school in Portland is unique and requires different levels of support to have successful Safe Routes to School programming. With limited resources, our goal is to provide flexible, effective and efficient programs that are aligned with overall school community needs.

We are committed to serving each school community through a variety of programs that can evolve as school capacity changes and grows.

Priority outcomes

• Safe Routes to School has flexible program options responsive to community needs and differences
• Students have tools to address personal security threats they may experience on the commute to school

All students can learn skills for safe and active travel as they grow

For the past 10 years, Portland’s Safe Routes to School program has focused on elementary-aged students. We strive to provide resources and education that creates multimodal literacy and competency for students across all age groups to grow and gain independent mobility. 

We are expanding our programs to support youth of all abilities in Portland from kindergarten through their senior year.

Priority outcomes

• Safe Routes to School has programs specifically designed for elementary, middle, and high school age levels
• Safe Routes to School programs are inclusive for students of all abilities

Communications about our programs and citywide resources are clear and consistent

In the Portland Metro region, the number of organizations working on Safe Routes to School programs and supporting schools can be confusing. While lots of practitioners is not a terrible problem to have, our districts, schools, parents, and students may not know who to ask when trying to access resources or to partner on programs.

We will simplify Safe Routes to School communication channels to help communities better navigate available programs and resources, ensuring everyone can access these essential services.

Priority outcomes

• Schools understand what program opportunities are available from Safe Routes to School
• Safe Routes to School practitioners meet regularly to coordinate efforts and communications with school communities

Moving to our future

Together with our strategic priorities, Safe Routes to School also has high level outcomes guiding programming for Portland schools and families. 

Each outcome nests within Portland Bureau of Transportation’s strategic core goals for a more efficient and sustainable city.

• Safety: Make Portland streets safe for everyone
• Moving people and goods: Provide transportation options for a growing city
• Asset management:Deliver smart investments to maintain our transportation system

Safe Routes to School high level outcomes

• No child is involved in a serious traffic crash accessing school or school programs
• Every child who wants to walk, roll or take transit to school knows how to do so safely
• Community members understand how Safe Routes to School programs are connected to congestion relief and climate change mitigation

As Safe Routes to School and Portland Bureau of Transportation work towards these goals, we also want to make sure our efforts contribute to a Portland that is more equitable and has a smaller carbon footprint. 

This is why we are also asking ourselves these two fundamental questions as we pursue our goals:

• Will it advance equity and address structural racism?
• Will it reduce carbon emissions?

What is transportation equity?

Over the past five years, Portland Bureau of Transportation, along with the City of Portland as a whole, has strengthened its commitment to transportation equity. What does this mean? It means recognizing the harmful legacy of past decisions and moving decisively to address these harms. Concretely, this means ensuring that communities of color and people with limited mobility, previously excluded from the decision-making process, have a prominent seat at the table and are centered in policy, investments, services and programs.

Reducing carbon emissions supports future generations

Our region is already experiencing the effects of forest fires and reduced air quality, flooding and hotter summers. The impacts are felt disproportionally in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. As leaders in a global movement of cities working to create low-carbon urban environments that will support future generations, Portland’s City Council has committed to 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, and a 100% reduction by 2050. We have lots of work to do. Roughly 40% of our carbon emissions come from vehicle emissions, and, as of 2016, Portland showed a 1% increase over the previous year.

Acknowledgments

Thoughtful feedback and direction from the Stakeholder Advisory Committee helped guide us through this process. Safe Routes to School now has a detailed roadmap that is rooted in the values of the communities our committee members represented. 

Many thanks and appreciation to the following groups who were essential to this project.

• Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon
• The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization
• Latino Network
• Native American Youth and Family Center
• Centennial School District
• David Douglas School District
• Parkrose School District
• Portland Public Schools
• Reynolds School District
• Oregon Parent Teacher Association Portland Council
• Schools Uniting Neighborhoods
• Oregon Walks
• OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon
• Safe Routes Partnerships
• The Street Trust
• Multnomah County Health Department
• Metro
• TriMet

Project Staff

Portland Bureau of Transportation

• Catherine Ciarlo 
• Dana Dickman
• Janis McDonald
• Abra McNair
• Lale Santelices
• Taylor Sutton
• Xao Xiong

Paste in Place

• Ryan Sullivan
• Harrison Brooks

Cover graphics

• Jiwon Jean Keum

Photo credits

• Pages 12, 28, 30: Oregon Department of Transportation Photo/Video
• Pages 15, 18: Steve Lanigan