SRTS: Sunshine Gardens Elementary School
South San Francisco, CA (September 2020-Present)
In colloboration with the San Mateo Office of Education and Sunshine Gardens Elementary School
Project Goal:
Document safety risks near schools and encourage increased rates of walking/biking to school.
Guiding Question:
“What makes it easy or hard to walk or bike to school? What ideas do you have for making it better?”
Project Description:
Using their own or borrowed project devices, a total of 28 Sunshine Garden Elementary citizen scientists (including parents, teachers, school administrators, and other local stakeholders) conducted walking assessments over a period five days, using the Discovery Tool app to identify facilatotors and barriers of safe routes to school.
Insights:
Over a total of 24 collection walks, Sunshine Garden citizen scientists collected 261 photos and recorded 232 narratives about their environment.
These records were catagorized into 9 themes:
- Condition of Sidewalks and Pathways (85 photos)
- Crossings and Crosswalks (59 photos)
- Vehicle Speed (30 photos)
- Traffic Signs, Lights and Controls (26 photos)
- Bike Accommodations and Facilities (23 photos)
- General Safety and Security (23 photos)
- Connectivity of Sidewalks and Pathways (22 photos)
- Vehicle Behavior (22 photos)
- Uncategorized (51 photos)
After data collection, 30 project participants attended a follow-up community meeting to discuss observations, celebrate strengths, and identify areas for improvement.
Strengths Identified:
- Residents are supportive of one another
- Neighborhood members know who to talk to in order to make community change
Identified Areas for Improvement:
- Incomplete network of sidewalks & bike facilities
- Unsafe crossings & missing infrastructure
- Lack of traffic safety measure
- Unsafe vehicle speeds & behaviors
Activities and Outcomes:
Using Discovery Tool data, 23 strategies and solutions regarding safer routes to school were generated, incuding:
- Improvements in the pedestrian and bicycle network
- Slower traffic/decreased conflicts with pedestrians & bikes
- Improvements in walk/bike supports and encouragement for all students
- Five-minute vehicle safety delay
- Installation of satellite drop-off and pick-up areas
Associated Publications:
Funding:
- San Mateo County Office of Education
- California Office of Traffic Safety: The OTS is the state’s voice and expert on traffic safety. The OTS provides more than $100 million annually in federal grant funding to local, county, regional, and state departments that make roads safer for everyone. The OTS mission is to save lives, with a vision where everyone in California will go safely.