Our current work focuses on expanding Safe Routes through partnerships, education, and community-based efforts that support safer walking and biking. Safe Routes provides hands-on bike rodeos, safety field days, and other activities that teach students how to walk, bike, and roll safely. Students practice important skills such as wearing a helmet correctly, controlling a bike, using crosswalks, following traffic signs and signals, staying visible, and safely sharing the road with others. These activities help students build confidence, learn safe habits, and make safer choices when traveling to school and around their communities.

School-Based Work

Galena Park ISD

Working with:

• Cloverleaf Elementary
• North Shore Elementary
• Sam Houston Elementary

Katy ISD

Partnership in progress with more programming coming soon.

Spearheaded by Healthy Living Matters (HLM), the Pasadena Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Plan was developed to identify strategies to increase walking and biking to school and increase physical activity levels and health of students. The BE Unit conducted an assessment of the walking environment around seven priority schools using HCPH’s Environmental Scan Tool (EST). The development of this plan was supported by Pasadena Vibrant Community, an initiative of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, made possible by an investment from and collaboration with Shell Oil. The full Pasadena SRTS Plan can be found here.

The purpose of the Baytown Safe Routes to School (SRTS) plan was to provide recommendations and a guide for Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District (GCCISD), the City of Baytown, parents, educators and community members in their efforts to create safe, convenient and fun opportunities for children to bike and walk to and from school. In 2019, Harris County Public Health (HCPH) embarked on a year-long effort with the support of the Be Well™ Baytown Steering Committee and GCCISD faculty and staff to develop the Baytown SRTS plan for six priority elementary schools – with the goal of making it easier, safer, and more inviting for students and their families to walk or bike to and from school. The full Baytown SRTS plan can be found here.

The BE Unit conducted assessments of the walking environment around five Baytown parks using HCPH’s Environmental Scan Tool (EST) and the park usage metrics by utilizing the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) combined with behavioral mapping techniques. To view the full report, click here.

The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Acres Homes program aims to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and increase physical activity in school-aged children through education and improved infrastructure in the Acres Homes neighborhood. Under this project, HCPH will facilitate collaborations between the City of Houston, Aldine ISD schools, and other partners to create a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) action plan for select schools in the neighborhood. Full SRTS plans for each school are available below:

• Harris Elementary SRTS Plan
• Houston Academy SRTS Plan
• Smith Elementary SRTS Plan

Safe Routes works with local governments, schools, families, and community partners to make walking, biking, and rolling safer for everyone. Together, we identify safety concerns, understand community needs, and support solutions through education, community programs, and street improvements.

Upcoming projects are based on identified safety needs and may include new school partnerships, safety assessments, education programs, and improvements to streets, sidewalks, crossings, and other areas used by people walking, biking, and rolling.