Safe Routes

Safe Routes to School programs aim to make it safer for students to walk and bike to school and encourage more walking and biking where safety is not a barrier. Transportation, public health and planning professionals, school communities, law enforcement officers, community groups and families all have roles to play using education, encouragement, engineering and enforcement to meet a local community’s needs. The Built Environment Unit has conducted several Safe Routes plans and is working on the first Safe Routes to Park plan. Full reports can be found below.

Harris County Public Health
Built Environment Program
(713) 274-6300 
Main Switchboard: 
(713) 439-6000
[email protected].

Safe Routes to School (SRTS)

Pasadena Safe Routes to School Plan

Spearheaded by Healthy Living Matters (HLM), the Pasadena 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.

Baytown Safe Routes to School Plan

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.

Acres Homes Safe Routes to School Program

The Safe Routes to School 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 collaboration 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.

Safe Routes to Parks (SRTP)

Baytown Safe Routes to Parks

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.

img-draft-safe-routes