The Active Routes to School (ARTS), the North Carolina Safe Routes to School (SRTS) project, began in 2014 as a partnership between the NC Department of Transportation Bicycle and Pedestrian Division and the NC Division of Public Health Community and Clinical Connections for Prevention and Health Branch.
Through this project ten Active Routes to School project coordinators worked across North Carolina to make it easier for elementary and middle school students to safely walk and bike to school. The project coordinators work with partners in their communities to increase:
- One-time awareness events about the importance of Safe Routes to School.
- The number of ongoing programs that encourage walking and biking to or at school.
- The number of trainings on how to implement Safe Routes to School-related activities.
- The number of policies that support walking and biking to or at school.
- The number of safety features near schools.
In addition to working directly with schools, the project coordinators worked within communities to identify opportunities for shared use of facilities and Complete Streets to improve access to physical activity.
Click here for a summary of accomplishments and insights learned through the ARTS project.
Learn more about International Walk to School Day and Bike to School Day
Active Routes to School Resources
North Carolina Safe Routes to School Handbook — Safe routes to school programs are community-based efforts to increase safe walking and biking for K-8 students. This handbook presents a menu of options based on what’s been shown to increase the number of students who walk and bicycle and how often they do it. The Safe Routes to School activities described in this handbook described in this handbook can help foster lifelong safe walking and bicycling skills, health and school-community engagement.
Stepping Into What’s Next: How Before-School Walking Programs Can Help Students Get to School On-Time and Ready to Learn — This guide gives an overview of the value of providing elementary and middle school students with opportunities for walking and biking, including the possibilities for improving attendance and academic achievement. It features examples of five before-school walking programs at schools around North Carolina.
Evaluation Reports for the Active Routes to School Program
An evaluation summary is available for each year of the Active Routes to School project. Each summary reports provide an overview of how much progress the Active Routes to School Project made that year toward meeting its goal to increase the number of North Carolina elementary and middle school students that safely walk or bike to, from and at school.
Evaluation update May 2018
Evaluation update Dec 2017
Evaluation update May 2016
Active Routes to School – Evaluation Summary Fall 2015
Active Routes to School – Promising Results Fall 2015