Abstract
BackgroundSafe Routes to School (SRTS) is a federally funded transportation program for facilitating physically active commuting to and from school in children through improvements of the built environment, such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and safe crossings. Although it is evident that SRTS programs increase walking and bicycling in school-age children, their impact on pedestrian and bicyclist injury has not been adequately examined.MethodsWe analyzed quarterly traffic crash data between January 2008 and June 2013 in Texas to assess the effect of the SRTS program implemented after 2009 on school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injuries.ResultsThe annualized rates of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries between pre- and post-SRTS periods declined 42.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) 39.6% to 45.4%) in children aged 5 to 19 years and 33.0% (95% CI 30.5% to 35.5%) in adults aged 30 to 64 years. Negative binomial modeling revealed that SRTS intervention was associated with a 14% reduction in the school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injury incidence rate ratio (IRR 0.86, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.98). The effect of the SRTS intervention on pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities was similar though smaller in magnitude and was not statistically significant (adjusted IRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.21).ConclusionsThese results indicate that the implementation of the SRTS program in Texas may have contributed to declines in school-age pedestrian and bicyclist injuries.
Highlights
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a federally funded transportation program for facilitating physically active commuting to and from school in children through improvements of the built environment, such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and safe crossings
We evaluate the effectiveness of the SRTS program in reducing pedestrian and bicyclist injuries in school-age children in the state of Texas, which differs from New York City in traffic environments, population density, demographic characteristics, and other important aspects
The yearly number of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in the study data was compared to and was the same as those reported for Texas in the US Fatality Analysis Reporting System (NHTSA 2014)
Summary
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a federally funded transportation program for facilitating physically active commuting to and from school in children through improvements of the built environment, such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and safe crossings. After many years of notable declines, the number of pedestrian fatalities across the US has increased nearly 5% between 2009 and 2011 (Patek and Thoma 2013) These numbers are mirrored by concomitant increases in cyclist fatalities (NHTSA 2011). This is in contrast to continued declines in both rates and frequencies of motor vehicle occupant fatalities and is reflected in the increasing proportion of traffic fatalities due to pedestrian injury. Because they tend to walk and bike more than other age groups, school-age pedestrians are vulnerable for reasons of increased exposure and are subject to greater consequences when injury occurs due to. The program was intended to encourage children to walk and bike to school and was allocated $612 million
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