Impact of the Safe Routes to School Program: Comparative Analysis of Infrastructure and Noninfrastructure Measures in Indiana

Abstract

The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program apportions funding for safety interventions aimed at encouraging walking and bicycling as viable transportation modes to school. Initially, the SRTS program (2006–2012) allocated more than $20 million to schools throughout Indiana for infrastructure- and noninfrastructure-related safety interventions. Under the continuation of the SRTS program, many states (including Indiana) do not provide special consideration for SRTS using federally allocated funds. Nevertheless, there are still provisions for SRTS projects to be funded through a more limited federal funding process. Using econometric modeling techniques, this paper examines the initial implementation of SRTS to gauge the effectiveness of infrastructure and noninfrastructure safety interventions. This analysis is beneficial in understanding the program’s most effective measures, and may assist in navigating the more competitive federal funding process by developing guidance on which to focus funding going forward. The impact of SRTS interventions on child (6–17 years) pedestrian and bicyclist crashes near schools was evaluated over time using a panel data structure that included SRTS and control group (no interventions) schools in Indiana. In the period before implementing the SRTS interventions, the schools selected for the program experienced higher crash frequencies than the control group, thus supporting their inclusion in the program. After the program’s implementation, infrastructure interventions were found to be effective in reducing child pedestrian and bicyclist crashes, while noninfrastructure interventions showed a nonsignificant impact. Covariates such as vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), school enrollment, median age of residents, median income of household head, and average annual precipitation also influenced safety in the region surrounding the studied schools. Based on the results of this study, SRTS programs including infrastructure-related safety interventions appeared to be most promising in improving safety for child pedestrians and bicyclists. Therefore, this study’s findings indicate the expansion of funding to infrastructure-related projects in future phases, as conceived in the initial structure of the SRTS program.