Safe Routes to School recap: it’s good to be back!

Blog

Jun 1

The end of the spring 2022 semester marked eight years of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programming here at Living Streets Alliance. After so much uncertainty with the pandemic, we felt especially grateful for this past year, back in school and reconnecting with kids, families, and program partners.

During the 2021-2022 school year, our team worked closely with four schools (Mission View Elementary, Ochoa Community School, Los Amigos Tech Academy, and Pueblo Gardens PreK-8 School) to provide support to students and families so that walking and biking to and from school can be more easy, safe and enjoyable.

Each school’s SRTS programming looks a little different and has evolved throughout the years:

Mission View Elementary just wrapped up their first year of weekly, after-school bike club sessions. The bike club saw consistent attendance and enthusiastic students excited to learn about road safety and how to fix a flat as well as participating in fun skill-building games.

Pueblo Gardens finished up their weekly, after-school bike club for middle school students. Spring was their first semester back since the pandemic put a hold on after-school activities at Pueblo Gardens.

Walk ‘N Roll Wednesdays were organized by teachers and parents at Los Amigos Tech Academy with great success! At least 100 participants walked or biked to school along seven walking school bus routes. A group of students also completed a Youth Earn A Bike course at BICAS.

The Ochoa bike club continued their bi-weekly meetings at John Valenzuela Youth Center (JVYC) and enjoyed rides to nearby parks throughout the school year, celebrating their last meeting of the school year with a ride to the Children’s Museum.

After a two-year delay, Cyclovia Tucson brought the excitement of people taking over the streets by foot or wheels! Ochoa and Mission View students and families joined in since the schools are located along the March 2022 route. Students of both bike clubs rode the almost 5-mile route along with other groups including Project Bike Club and GRIT participants. It was an amazing opportunity for the students to put their bike-riding skills to the test and experience their neighborhood in a new and exciting way. They also became more comfortable moving around on a bike. When asked about their experience riding in Cyclovia, many of the students said it was very fun and they enjoyed having paletas at the Ochoa Hub to cool off. Several of the students expressed how awesome it would be to not have cars on the streets everyday so they could ride their bike more freely!

Riders and Walkers is another program of Safe Routes to School in partnership with Environmental Education Exchange. The 60-minute presentation to 3rd and 4th graders across Pima County reviews pedestrian and biking safety skills to encourage students to walk and bike more often and in a safe manner. During the 2021-2022 school year, 3,074 students participated in this interactive presentation and two of them received a new bike!

Free Mobile Bike Repair clinics are also part of our Safe Routes to School offerings. These hands-on bike education clinics bring bike maintenance directly to schools where students and families can learn how to do basic repairs. Mobile Bike Repair clinics keeps youths bikes safe and in good shape throughout the year.

Safe Routes to School is a nationwide movement to make it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school through a combination of engagement, equity, engineering, encouragement, education, and evaluation (a.k.a. ”The 6 Es”). Here at Living Streets Alliance we are honored to deliver Safe Routes to School programming on behalf of the City of Tucson (in partnership with the Department of Transportation & Mobility) and within the City of South Tucson through CDBG support from Pima County.