Safe Routes to School is a nationwide initiative whose goal is to get more kids walking and biking to school by making it safer and easier for them to do so.  The program was founded in the 1990s as it became clear that rates of walking and biking to school had dropped precipitously in only a little more than a generation.  The federal government now provides hundreds of millions of dollars of funding nationally every year to school districts, communities, and nonprofits that work to promote Safe Routes goals on a school by school basis.

Safe Routes work is guided by what are known as the Five E's:  Engineering, Enforcement, Encouragement, Education, and Evaluation.

• Engineering refers to any changes to the physical landscape at or near schools that make walking and biking safer and easier, from new sidewalks and crosswalks to speed bumps and other traffic calming devices
• Enforcement covers everything from crossing guards to speed limit enforcement to safety patrols
• Encouragement includes a range of strategies for promoting more walking and biking, including walking school buses, bike trains, punchcards and other incentive programs, and maps of best routes to school
• Education refers to efforts to both educate students, staff, and community members about the importance of walking and biking and build students' skills as safe walkers and bikers
• Evaluation closes the loop with parent surveys, tallies of student participation in walking and biking, and other tools for assessing how good of a job the program is doing at addressing barriers to walking and biking