The Wake County Public School System has joined with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (UNC-HSRC), Advocates for Health in Action, WakeUP Wake County and, CAMPO to work with elementary and middle schools to improve child pedestrian safety and support walking and bicycling to school.
This exciting new initiative is funded with the generous support of the John Rex Endowment, and it will begin with model projects in five public selected based upon various criteria. The program also involves working with local municipalities to examine policies that can improve safety for child pedestrians and disseminating learnings from the five “model” schools so that other WCPSS schools can consider similar actions.
Interest is growing for encouraging walking and bicycling to school for health, social, academic and other benefits. Currently, only 4% of NC students walk or bike to school at least once per week, and 58% of K-5 students are not getting the physical activity they need. At the same time, in Wake County, pedestrian injuries are the 3rd leading cause of death for children under 18 years. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are an evidence-based approach to address safety concerns and provide more opportunities for children to walk and bike to school or at school.
Participating schools include:
Bugg Elementary School, Raleigh
Ligon Middle School, Raleigh
Northwoods Elementary School, Cary
Hodge Road Elementary, Knightdale
Lincoln Heights Elementary, Fuquay-Varina
Stay tuned for more updates as this exciting program progresses!