Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Schools

Scenes like this are becoming rarer. Photo: MoBikeFed

As Fewer Kids Attend Neighborhood Schools, Transportation Challenges Intensify

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 10, 2017 | 19 Comments

The more kids get driven to school instead of walking, the more chaotic the drop-offs and pick-ups become. Greater Greater Washington's Matthew Kohler notes that the rise of school choice policies adds a whole new wrinkle, as students shift from neighborhood schools within walking distance to schools farther away.

The playground at Swansea elementary school in Denver, with I-70 on the right. Image via Google Maps

America Builds Too Many Schools By Highways

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 21, 2017 | 6 Comments

One in 11 U.S. public schools are within 500 feet of a highway, exposing 4.4 million children to elevated levels of pollution, putting kids at elevated risk of developing asthma. But cheap land remains alluring to school districts, and America's system of school siting is not getting better.

The double-wide snake of cars in the parking lot didn't solve the problem. Via David Bruce/YouTube

Watch the Insanity of American School Drop-Off

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 16, 2016 | 205 Comments

When every student has a parental chauffeur, this is what you get.

4 Things Schools Can Do to Reduce the Asthma Threat From Idling Cars

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 17, 2016 | 63 Comments

Lately, American schools have been pretty responsive to public health and safety threats facing children. Witness the rise of peanut butter bans or the dwindling number of vending machines in schools. But schools haven’t been very successful at tackling what is arguably a much bigger threat to children’s health: air pollution caused by driving. Asthma is the most […]

One Dad’s Twitter Photo Essay on His Daughter’s Perilous Walk to School

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 4, 2014 | 27 Comments

“So who’s up for a long rant/photo-essay about kids walking to school and urban design on this fine back-to-school Thursday morning?” asked Canadian author and journalist Chris Turner on Twitter this morning. And so began a numbered tour of the hazards encountered on his 9-year-old daughter’s walk to school. It was partly inspired by this […]

Getting Rural Kids Walking and Biking: A Case Study From Northeast Iowa

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 22, 2014 | No Comments

This post is part of a series featuring stories and research that will be presented at the Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike/Pro-Place conference September 8-11 in Pittsburgh. Nationally, more than 14,000 schools have taken part in Safe Routes to School programs. Though dedicated federal funding was stripped out in the current transportation law, SRTS funds have helped improve sidewalks, crosswalks, bike […]

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