Safe and comfortable walking, biking, and rolling infrastructure is critical to allowing students to get to school safely. There are many strategies and opportunities for schools to improve their infrastructure.

Walking School Buses and Bike Trains

A Walking School Bus is a group of students walking along a designated route to school led by an adult supervisor. Walking School Buses often have “Stops” along the way where students can join the group. A Bike Train is a Walking School Bus where students ride bicycles rather than walk.

Walking or biking to school in a group is a great way to make students and parents more comfortable walking to school. Walking School Buses and Bike Trains provide supervision for students walking to school and are typically enjoyable for students who travel to school with their friends and neighbors.

These are also great ways to allow students to walk or bike to school more safely in rural areas that don't have great sidewalks or bikeways. By designating a gathering point for the bus or train, students can travel the remaining distance to school in a more visible and supervised group.

• Walking School Buses and Bike Trains MiniGuide
• Parent Letter
• Sample Policies
• Permission Slip
• Walking School Bus Stencil Template

Walk/Bike Audits

A Walk Audit is a group exercise in which your team walks around the school grounds and adjacent neighborhoods to experience, identify and document walking and biking conditions. Walk Audits are used to identify barriers to walking and bicycling in the environment surrounding a school. They are also an important first step in developing a Travel Plan.

• Walk Audit MiniGuide
• Walk Audit Invitation
• Walk Audit Template
• Infrastructure Glossary

School Travel Plans

A Travel Plan documents specific challenges to walking and biking to school and identifies strategies to address these challenges. You don't have to have one, but a good Travel Plan can serve as the guiding document for your SRTS program. It outlines your activities and next steps for supporting walking and biking to school. The engineering portion outlines infrastructure improvements which may be implemented by the school, municipality, or state.

• Check to see if your school has a Travel Plan
• Travel Plan MiniGuide
• Travel Plan Template 
• Infrastructure Glossary

Funding and Additional Resources

• Arrival and Dismissal MiniGuide
• RPCs can be an important ally in SRTs. Find your local RPC here.
• Local Motion maintains a database with key funding opportunities. Most of these could be used for SRTS-related. infrastructure and planning.