In just a generation, the number of students who walk and bike to school each day has declined dramatically while childhood obesity rates and physical inactivity have soared. According to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, less than 15 percent of children in the United States walk or bike to school. As traffic has increased, parents drive their children to school, convinced it is too dangerous to allow them to walk or bike. This self-perpetuating cycle results in substantial traffic congestion and an increase in air pollution.
San Mateo County residents are no strangers to school-related traffic congestion. With more than 109,000 school-aged children living in the county, traffic congestion around schools is particularly high.
Data collected in the 2017-18 Safe Routes to School parent survey indicates that 49 percent of respondents live one mile or less from school, a distance easily covered on foot. The children of 62 percent of the respondents who live one mile or less from school regularly take an active mode of transportation to school, and 41 percent of all survey respondents indicate that their children walk, bike, or use another active mode to travel to school each day. As in years past, the most pressing concerns for parents are speeding, traffic and unsafe intersections.
The San Mateo County Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) works in partnership with municipalities, schools, and community members to make walking and biking to school as safe as possible. It is funded by a combination of the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program and local City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) Measure M funds. Since its inception in 2011, SRTS has brought stakeholders together, especially school administrators and city staff, to address barriers to walking and biking to school. The SRTS program also partners with service providers who educate children and parents on safe walking and biking practices through pedestrian and bicycle skills training, educational theatre, and personal safety workshops. These efforts are made to encourage behavior change that increases walking and biking, helps children meet the recommended 60 or more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, improves air quality and reduces congestion around schools, and encourages children to grow into self-reliant, independent adults.
Safe Routes to School and Green Streets Infrastructure Pilot Program
The SRTS and Green Streets Infrastructure Pilot Program (Pilot Program) was a $2.1 million-dollar C/CAG-funded program that supported the construction of projects that incorporated both safe routes to school safety improvements and green infrastructure elements at schools.
The Pilot Program was developed to fund integrated improvements at intersections and mid-block crossings near schools. Funding for the SRTS/GI Pilot Program included approximately $1 million from Measure M and $1 million from AB 1546.
The C/CAG Board approved funding for ten projects, summarized in the table on page 4, in December 2017. The final project was completed in 2024.
Integrated Safe Routes to School and Green Streets Infrastructure Pilot Program Report
The Integrated Safe Routes to School and Green Streets Infrastructure Pilot Program Report (Report) catalogs the successes and lessons learned from the Pilot Program. The Pilot Program was developed by C/CAG with the primary intent of advancing a number of pilot integrated infrastructure projects throughout San Mateo County that explicitly bridge the goals of active transportation improvements near schools with the water quality and community benefit goals of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). A secondary objective of the Pilot Program was to demonstrate the potential cost savings of integrating infrastructure planning and implementation between the transportation and stormwater management departments of local agencies. By planning drainage and water quality improvements with active transportation infrastructure improvements together, there’s a potential cost avoided by “only digging once” and expanding co-benefits, like enhanced safety, community greening, reduced urban heat island effects, among others. In addition to providing 1.) an overview and context for the Pilot Program, the Report also contains sections on 2.) the main “sustainable streets project typologies as developed in the from the San Mateo County Sustainable Streets Master Plan (SSMP), 3.) a compilation of one-page case studies for each of the ten pilot projects, and 4.) lessons learned from planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining the pilot projects.
The Half Moon Bay project was constructed in conjunction with the new Library in August 2018. The project included bulbouts, Class II bicycle lanes, and bioretention areas at the intersection of Purissima Street and Correas Street, one block from Manual F. Cunha Intermediate School.
Watch the video below to learn more about Sustainable Streets and the role they play in promoting safe routes to school and climate resilience in San Mateo County.
Safe Routes To School Story Map
The projects listed in the below map are part of a pilot program funded by C/CAG that demonstrate the integration of green stormwater infrastructure with Safe Routes to School bike and pedestrian enhancements.
SRTS/GI Pilot Projects Funded by C/CAG Board in December, 2017
| CITY | PARTICIPATING SCHOOL DISTRICT | PARTICIPATING SCHOOL(S) | PROJECT NAME |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | Brisbane School District | Brisbane Elementary School and Lipman Middle School | Brisbane SRTS and Green Infrastructure Project |
| Colma | South San Francisco Unified School District | El Camino High School | Mission Road Improvements – Safe Routes to School & Green Streets Infrastructure |
| Daly City | Jefferson Elementary School District | Westlake Elementary School | Westlake Elementary School Pilot Green Streets Improvements |
| East Palo Alto | Ravenswood City Elementary School District | Cesar Chavez Elementary School | Addison Avenue SRTS and Green Street Project |
| Half Moon Bay | Cabrillo Unified School District | Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate School | Half Moon Bay Safe Routes to Cunha School Project |
| Menlo Park | Sequoia Union High School District | Menlo-Atherton High School and Nativity School | Oak Grove Safe Routes to School and Green Infrastructure Improvements Project |
| Millbrae | Millbrae School District | Taylor Middle School | Taylor Middle School SRTS and GSIPP |
| Pacifica | Pacifica School District | Cabrillo School | Cabrillo School Pedestrian Crossing Improvement Project |
| Redwood City | Redwood City School District | Taft Elementary School and KIPP Excelencia Community Prep School | Taft Community School – Safe Routes to School/Green Infrastructure Improvements |
| San Mateo County | Redwood City School District | Fair Oaks Community School | Fair Oaks Community School Green Infrastructure and SRTS Improvements |
