Safe Routes to School

What We Do

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a national movement to make it easier and safer for students to walk and bike to school. Our SRTS program is designed to improve safety in areas around schools and to encourage more kids to walk and bike. It's our goal for Seattle's school children to start their day by having fun, strengthening connections to their communities, improving physical and mental health, and arriving to school in time for breakfast and ready to learn. As part of our city's continued effort to end institutionalized racism and build a more equitable city, we are focused on extending the benefits of walking and biking to school to students in these groups: 

2023 School Travel Tally Report

We work with Seattle Public Schools to conduct an annual travel tally in all elementary and K-8 schools, and the 2023 School Travel Tally Report is out! On average, Elementary schools across the city recorded an active transportation rate of 30%. This was 3% higher than the active transportation rate in 2015 and double the rate when the tally was first conducted in 2005! Read the report, view the summary, and learn more on our School Travel Tally page.

Made choice of students in 2023

5-Year Action Plan 

Over the next 5 years, the SRTS Program will be led by a 5-Year Action Plan that lays out actions we'll take toward our goal of making it safer and easier for kids to walk and bike to school. It recommends specific, near-term strategies built around our program's seven E's: Equity, Environment, Education, Empowerment, Encouragement, Engineering, and Evaluation. Equity is infused into each of the other six categories as we continue our committment to taking a racial justice-driven approach to promoting more active commuting among students.

The Action Plan guides our investments by ranking all public and most private schools in Seattle. The rankings are based on where people walking or biking have had collisions, the races and ethnicities of students at each school, and numerical scores from the Pedestrian Master Plan that measure how inviting the streets around each school are for walking.

All children have the right to health, happiness and academic success regardless of race. For more detail, view the Safe Routes to School Action Plan Prioritization Process. To see how your school ranks, view the School Rankings for Walkway Projects and Crosswalk Projects.

Education: Ensure Everyone Learns How to Travel Safely

Empowerment: Provide Resources to School Champions

Engineering: Design Streets for Safety and Predictability

Environment: Reduce The Impact of School Travel

Encouragement: Promote Walking and Biking

Evaluation: Track Progress Toward Our Shared Safety Goals

Safe Routes to School Projects

North

  • Crosswalks, crosswalk daylighting (i.e., paint and post curb bulbs), and speed cushions on 3rd Ave NW near Greenwood Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Traffic calming, crossing improvements, and art on NW 65th St at Adams Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Install wheelstops and pave section of pathway on NE 110th St leading to Jane Addams Middle School (expected in 2024)

  • Installed a marked crosswalk on 32nd Ave NW at NW 75th St near Loyal Heights Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Install speed humps and all way stops near Olympic View Elementary and partner with Neighborhood Greenways program to create a Neighborhood Greenway near Olympic View Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Install push button flashing beacon and marked crosswalk at 62nd Ave NE and NE 65th St by Sandpoint Elementary (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Install speed humps on NW 105th St and repair and complete a walkway gap on the north side of 105th by Viewlands Elementary (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Daylight the crosswalk (i.e., install paint and post curb bulbs) on 45th Ave NE just south of 73rd by View Ridge Elementary (expected in 2024)

Central

  • Curb ramps at 7th/Wheeler at Coe Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Install a push button flashing beacon at 11th Ave E and E Aloha St near Lowell Elementary (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Vision Zero partnership to retime signals and install no turn on red signs near Bailey Gatzert Elementary and various schools across the city to prioritize people walking (various locations) (2024)

  • Walking School Bus support for Bailey Gatzert Elementary (ongoing)

South

S Henderson St School Safety Project at Dunlap Elementary, South Shore PK-8, Alan T. Sugiyama High School, and Rainier Beach High School (safety upgrades and art in 2023/2024 and we expect to build walking and biking improvements in 2025) 

  • Bike to Books Student Art leading to Dunlap Elementary and South Shore PK-8 (expected in 2024)

  • Curb ramps/marked crosswalks at 7th/Henderson and ramps/bulbs/marked crosswalks at 8th/Henderson near Concord Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Walkway and trees on S Henderson St between 12th and 14th near Concord Elementary (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Marked crosswalk at 26th Ave S/SW Trenton St for Denny Intl’ Middle School and Chief Sealth High School (expected in 2024)

  • All way stop and student-designed crosswalk at Denny Intl’ Middle School (expected in 2024)

  • Walkway and trees on 23rd Ave S at Louisa Boren K-8 (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Speed humps and all way stops on SW Myrtle St, SW Frontenac, and California Ave SW near Gatewood Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Remark crosswalks on SW Lander St and California Ave SW by Lafayette Elementary (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Install speed humps on S 115th St leading to Lakeridge Elementary (expected in 2025)

  • Install push button flashing beacons and painted bulbs at California/Hinds & California/Spokane near Madison Middle School

  • Install all way stops and speed humps near Orca K-8 (expected in 2024)

  • Build curb ramps on 19th and Genesee at Pathfinder K-8 (expected in 2024 or 2025)

  • Partner with Home Zone program to install a push button flashing beacon on Beacon Ave S and S 55th St by Rainier View Elementary (expected in 2024)

  • Install all way stops near Schmitz Park – SPS interim site (expected in 2024)

  • Walking Wednesdays support for Wing Luke, John Muir, and Dunlap elementaries (ongoing)

  • Bike bus support for South Shore PK-8 and Dunlap Elementary (ongoing)

"I bike to school because biking relaxes me and

prepares me for a day of learning." - Yasi, Student

A school age child smiles with her bike on a pedestrian street. A group of young students wearing brightly colored backpacks walks down the sidewalk

A young man helps a student with a bike helmet fitting A student wearing a yellow safety vest and holding a stop flag volunteers to monitor the crosswalk at his school

Transportation

Greg Spotts, Director
Address: 700 5th Ave, Suite 3800, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 34996, Seattle, WA, 98124-4996
Phone: (206) 684-7623
684-Road@seattle.gov

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The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is on a mission to deliver a transportation system that provides safe and affordable access to places and opportunities for everyone as we work to achieve our vision of Seattle as a thriving, equitable community powered by dependable transportation.