Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh Safe Routes to School (SRTS) EngagePGH page!

The mission of Safe Routes to School is to increase the number of students biking and walking to school through education, encouragement, and safety improvements. Creating healthy communities by providing safer walking, bicycling and riding routes while educating and encouraging students. The goal of the Safe Routes to School program is to:

• Educate school aged children in safe walking and biking practices
• Encourage children to use an active mode of transportation
• Engage with community members and working with existing community organizations how Safe Routes to School initiatives should begin
• Provide engineering improvements around schools such as crosswalks, signage and sidewalks
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the program activities and engineering improvements

Wear layers. You might feel cold when you start out walking or biking, but you'll warm up as your blood gets flowing. Make sure you wear a hat (you lose a lot of heat through the top of your head) and gloves or mittens (mittens are better for when it's really cold, and you can wear gloves inside your mittens for when you have to do some work that requires dexterity). If it's really cold, a scarf or face mask will help prevent frostbite of the face.

Wear good, sturdy shoes, preferably with rubber soles (not the plastic compound soles found in most athletic shoes). Boots are good for when it's snowy or rainy, and make sure they are a touch big so you can add wool socks or have the air around your toes be warmer than in tight boots. When it is icy, ice cleats can greatly improve traction.

Since it tends to be dark much of the day in winter, wear bright, reflective clothes to make you more visible to drivers.

Remind the kids to stay hydrated, since the cold dehydrates you. Remember to drink water, not eat snow (eating too much snow can cause problems with maintaining body temperature).

Sourced from the Safe Routes Partnership listserve by Charles Bingham of Alaska (and he should know!)

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The SRTS team visited the following schools: Propel North Side, Pittsburgh Langley and Pittsburgh Sterrett to engage students during Safety Week.

SRTS partnered with PennDOT and BikePGH for Safety Week, visiting school classrooms to share safety tips on pedestrian, bicycle and school bus safety. Safety Week was held the second week in March.

The Safe Routes to School team along with their partners: BikePGH, CHP Injury Prevention Team, PennDOT and Crossing Guard, Donna McManus visited Propel Hazelwood K-5, Pittsburgh Roosevelt, Pittsburgh Sterrett, Pittsburgh Arlington, and Pittsburgh Sunnyside classrooms for SRTS Safety Week.

We shared safety tips with the students on bike safety, traffic safety, pedestrian safety, and school bus safety. Students learned the importance of wearing a bike helmet, crossing the street, catching a school bus and how to identify bike routes on a map. Safety Week was held March 13th -17th.

Contact the SRTS team via email if you would like your elementary or middle school to receive a safety visit.

The Safe Routes to Schools Team along with their partners will visit up to 6 schools K-8 for SRTS Safety Week.

Sign up your school to participate in SRTS Safety Week. Contact us via the online form below or by email before February 17th. SRTS Safety Week will take place the week of March 13th thru 17th.

How did you participate in SRTS Safety Week? Did you participate on-line or did the SRTS Team visit your school with a safety activity? Thank you to our partners BikePGH and PennDOT for sharing their safety knowledge with students at Pittsburgh Arsenal, Pittsburgh Faison and Pittsburgh King. If you would like the SRTS Safety Team to visit your school, please email us below

March 14th -18th was Safe Routes to School Safety Week in the City of Pittsburgh. SRTS Program Coordinator, Harriet Jackson visited several City of Pittsburgh schools with partners BikePGH and PennDOT to engage students at Pittsburgh King on the North Side, Pittsburgh Arsenal in Lawrenceville and Pittsburgh Faison in Homewood. They shared safety tips on the importance of staying safe while walking, bicycling and riding a school bus.

DOMI's Safe Routes to School Program received the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day grant from Safe Routes Partnership. Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day honors the living legacy of civil rights activist Ruby Bridges. In 1960 at the age of six Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Today her story continues to inspire the next generation of leaders to end racism together one step at a time. November 14th is Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, an annual day of dialogue to commemorate Ruby's historic steps.

Safe Routes to School PGH awarded the grant to three City of Pittsburgh schools to put on their own Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day celebration. Propel Northside K-8 Charter School, Pittsburgh Arlington K-8 School and Pittsburgh Miller K-5 School. Students made signs, read books about Ruby Bridges, wrote essays and paraded outside and in school in honor of Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. Each school ended the day with a pizza party.