Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are sustained efforts by parents, schools, community leaders and local, state, and federal governments to improve the health and well-being of children by enabling and encouraging them to walk and bicycle to school.
SRTS programs examine conditions around schools and conduct projects and activities that work to improve safety and accessibility, and reduce traffic and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. As a result, these programs help make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing transportation choices thus encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.
National Bike to School Day, May 8th 2013
National Bike to School Day was a Huge Success!
Planning an event at your school? Download any Bike to School Day documents, forms, and activities here!
Join us for National Bike to School Day! This event is in right in line with the Buffalo Board of Education’s Physical Activity Committee regarding the district’s stated initiative of achieving 60 minutes of physical activity per day for students.
You may remember last fall’s successful Safe Routes to School’s Walking School Bus, which aimed to promote a healthier school environment (fewer vehicles), and also encourage more physical activity. National Bike to School Day puts the same theory on wheels.
See the list below to join in on the fun!
Presently, 15 Buffalo Schools are signed on to participate in National Bike to School Day.
These schools are currently signed up:
PS 6 Buffalo Elementary School of Technology
PS 32 Bennett Park Montessori
PS 74 Hamlin Park
PS 54 Dr. Geo. Blackman School of Excellence ECC
PS 59 Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet @11
PS 67 Discovery School
PS 72 Lorraine Elementary
PS 80 Highgate Heights
PS 81
PS 301 Burgard High School
PS 204 Lafayette High School
PS 205 Riverside Institute of Technology
PS 212 Leonardo DaVinci High School
Makowski Early Childhood Center
Westminister Community Charter School
Buffalo’s Safe Routes to School Program:
In Fall of 2012 we saw the first Walking School Bus begin in Buffalo at Hamlin Park School. This pilot program was a success thanks to school and community involvement, especially parents and neighbors who volunteered to walk with the students every Wednesday morning. We are working with other schools to increase participation. Stay tuned for Walking School Buses coming in the future!
To view a sample application to be a Walking School Bus Driver, click here.
Buffalo City Council Majority Leader Demone Smith with students
Walking School Bus North Route
Walking School Bus South Route
Bennett Park Montessori Joins Recycle-a-Bicycle!
PS 32 Bennett Park Montessori Center has joined the Safe Routes to School family with our largest Recycle a Bicycle class to date. Principal Pauletta Stines brought the school on board in a big way. With over 100 students participating, the site is leading the way in teaching students how to reuse bicycles that once would have been discarded. Kudos to Principal Stine, Mr. Tristan and the RAB students at Bennett Park Montessori!
RAB Instructor, Mr. Tristan, shows a student in his class at Bennett Park Montessori how to rebuild a bicycle.
After paying close attention, students are given the chance to practice what they’ve learned.
Mr. Tristan shows two students how to place the handlebars on the bike frame.
Working together makes it so much easier!
More About Safe Routes to School:
GO Bike Buffalo’s Safe Routes to School program embraces a well-rounded approach that focuses on “The 5 Es”: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation.
Three key intersections crossed by students to reach Hamlin Park School #74 received funding to make engineering/infrastructure improvements through our Safe Routes to School grant. In addition, $1 million dollars has been allocated from the City of Buffalo’s budget specifically for the construction of transportation infrastructure including asphalt pavement milling, resurfacing, curbs, sidewalks, street lighting, traffic signals, signs, pavement markings, and landscape improvements around the school. Re-Tree WNY has planted 200 trees through volunteer efforts and the New York State Department of Transportation is rehabilitating the pedestrian bridge that connects the school to the neighborhood on the other side of the Kensington Expressway (Rte. 33).
GO Bike Buffalo’s SRTS Coordinator organizes Walking School Bus / Bicycle Train programs, award-winning Recycle-A-Bicycle programming (providing students with bicycles, helmets, locks and lights, along with proper riding instruction), this Safe Routes to School webpage, travel maps for all Buffalo public schools, Walk to School Day promotional events, etc., in order to increase education and encouragement of Safe Routes to School locally.
The Buffalo Police Department’s School Resource Officers will be available to assist with enforcement, by monitoring school arrival and dismissal at the targeted schools and monitoring trouble locations. The School Resource Officers will also be utilized for high traffic intersections during the implementation of the Walking School Bus program, leading the students to school from these locations and implement safety programs for students preparing them for the Walking School Bus.
A Student Travel Tally and a Parent Survey are utilized as evaluation tools for the program. This data, coupled with other district data, will be continually utilized as a way to measure results of the Safe Routes to School.
For more information on the Safe Routes to School Program, visit:
NYSDOT Safe Routes to School Curriculum
Impact of Physical Activity
The Relationship Between Physical Activity Weight and Academic Achievement
Key Research Topics
CDC Vital Signs – More People Walk to Better Health
For more information or to speak with us directly:
GObike Buffalo
640 Ellicott Street Suite 447 • Buffalo, NY 14203
Telephone: 716-218-7161
Fax: 716-218-7150
Email: info@gobikebuffalo.org