Student Streets Create Healthier Neighbourhoods

The Daily School Route (DSR) is an enhanced approach to active school travel that creates active transportation systems for kids. The DSR sees kids as “transportation users” within their own system and creates a network of routes, called Student Streets, to help facilitate safe, effective active school travel. The goal is to see 100 per cent of students who live close enough walking or wheeling to/from school daily, regardless of age, ability, or personal circumstance, so they can experience the benefits of active transportation. But this isn’t the only benefit.

Through a data-intensive engagement process, including safety hotspot mapping and an innovative draw-your-route tool, the DSR is able to look at entire city wards to capture information about the active transportation environment among several schools that are geographically co-located. With routes identified for several schools at once, necessary safety improvements are flagged to make the Student Streets safe, convenient, and attractive. When combined with ward-wide improvements, such as speed limit reductions, what results is a ward strategy to create safer streets for all residents.

Click here to read the full article from Y Magazine of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute