Safe Routes to School - Walking School Bus
A Walking School Bus (WSB) is a group of students who walk together to school.
The walk to school is an opportunity to enjoy nature, catch up with each other, and learn about ways to stay safe – this includes learning the rules of the road, driver behavior, and stranger danger. SRTS recommends children to walk together rather than alone.
A WSB event is a day that has been designated for promoting WSB. Other activities and prizes can be incorporated into the event.
Steps to creating a Walking School Bus:
1. Contact your school’s parent teacher organization (PTO)
Ask your PTO if there are existing WSB routes. If there is an existing route, contact the route organizer to see how your child can participate. If the existing route does not meet your needs or if there are no routes near you, start one of your own. WSB groups work best with approximately ten to fifteen students and two to three adults.
2. Identify the route
Select a route that is direct, yet, minimizes crossing of roads.
Consider the following:
- Where are participants coming from?
- How old are participants and how well can they anticipate driver behavior?
- Are parents dropping off their child, parking and walking together, or is the child joining along the route?
When you must cross a road, select a location that is convenient and safest to cross. Priorize crossings that are:
- signalized intersections;
- marked crosswalks with good visibility;
- unmarked crosswalks with good visibility.
Avoid areas with high traffic as much as possible, such as heavily utilized commercial driveways or busy bus stops.
Routes should meet the needs of the group. With the beginning of each school year, new students may join while others leave. The route may change as the group dynamics change.
3. Pick a meeting spot and time
The meeting spot should allow for drop-off if necessary. If parked cars cause an issue for drop-off, consider taking out a street usage permit to restrict parking.
Determine a time to meet based on how long it takes for the group to walk to school and what time the group wants to arrive at school.
4. Identify the primary and secondary contact and name the route
Determine the primary contact and, if possible, a secondary contact. Identify how you want the group to communicate (ie: text messages, facebook page, school annoucements, etc).
Unicorn sunrise? Green Macaroni? Name the route (or let the students name it!) to make it easier to organize with others and communicate about the route.
5. Register the route with your PTO
If your PTO or school keeps a register of active routes, include your route (meeting location, meeting time, route, and contact information). This information can be shared with other students who inquire about WSB routes in the area. Route information should not be shared publicly to provide confidentiality and minimize stranger danger risks.
6. Start walking!
Communicate with parents in the group to coordinate efforts and determine how active the group will be.