The Safe Routes to School program is designed to make neighborhoods safer so that parents will feel comfortable letting their children walk or bike to school. A number of states and communities have adopted versions of the program, including a state-funded California program that serves eight communities and a program based in Marin County, CA, which is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Such programs are flexible and can be adapted to fit a community's needs. Common focuses of the programs include putting in sidewalks and crosswalks and fixing broken stoplights; sponsoring "walking school buses" where adult volunteers, often parents, take turns escorting kids to school and teaching valuable traffic safety skills along the way; and educating parents and children about the importance of traffic safety skills and physical activity.
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