Safe Routes to School: Laurel Elementary School

San Mateo, CA (September 2021)

Project Description

In September  2021, members of the Laurel Elementary School community of San Mateo, along with the San Mateo County Departments of Education and Health, hosted a virtual walk audit and healthy design workshop. These were facilitated by Ann Banchoff, other Our Voice partners, and Mark Fenton, a public health, planning, and transportation consultant, with the intent to create a programmatic, infrastructure project and policy recommendations to increase the safety of walking and bicycling to school. These changes aim to increase the number of students walking and biking to school while simultaneously reducing the amount of vehicular traffic during pick-up and drop-off times. 

Guiding Question 

What makes it easy or hard to walk or bike to Laurel Elementary School? ¿Qué hace que sea fácil o difícil caminar o ir en bicicleta a la escuela?

Insights

41 elementary school students from Laurel Elementary School in San Mataeo county collected 93 photos and recorded 88 narratives about aspects of their school environment that made it easy or hard to walk or bike to school.

Laurel Elementary School students reviewed collected data and catagorized them into 9 themes:

  • Sidewalk and pathway conditions
  • Sidewalk and pathway connectivity
  • Traffic signs, Lights, and controls
  • General security and safety
  • Crossings and crosswalks
  • Bicycle accommodation and facilities
  • Vehicle speeds
  • Vehicle behaviors
  • Other

 

Activities and Outcomes

Strategies and Solutions Identified by Citizen Scientists

  • Encourage more walking to school with educational, promotional, and safety activities to reduce motor vehicle traffic at school significantly. 
  • Create infrastructure to encourage safer driving behaviors near the school to reduce safety challenges caused by motor vehicles. 
  • Launch a student-driven educational campaign on safe driving and drop-off and pick-up to emphasize the expected behavior of drivers and pedestrians when driving, cycling, or walking. 
  • Formalize drop-off and pick-up procedures to create a safer environment for all. 
  • Implement a satellite drop-off/pick-up area, walking school bus, and a five-minute safety delay. 

 

People and Collaborators

Project Lead(s): 

  • Ann Banchoff

 

Collaborating Organization(s) / Institutional Partner(s):

  • Laurel Elementary School
  • Safe Routes to School
  • San Mateo County Health Department: Public Health, Policy, and Planning
  • San Mateo County Office of Education
  • Mark Fenton

Our Voice Impact

"This experience has changed my life.  I see inadequacies everywhere I go as it relates to pedestrian access and safety.  I even stop [at] construction sites to remind them to be considerate of the handicapped in our community.  Thank you all so much for this awareness and empowerment to require change."

~ Pam Jiner, GirlTrek Advocacy Leader, Denver CO