In August 2000, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Walk Boston, with funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), began to develop a national model Safe Routes to School program. To demonstrate the benefits of the Safe Routes to School program, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition recruited nine pilot schools in four locations. Each school received guidance, forms, newsletters, and other promotional materials. A transportation engineer was hired to assist in developing plans to increase safety on routes to school. Every school held periodic Walk and Bike to School Days and participated in the Frequent Rider Miles contest which rewarded children who came to school walking, biking, by carpool, or by bus. At the end of the pilot program there was a 57% increase in the number of children walking and biking to school and a 29% decrease in the number of children arriving by car (those not in a carpool). This toolkit resulted from the experiences of the Marin County pilot program and from other Safe Routes to School programs in the United States, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and in the United Kingdom.
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