Introducing the Safe Routes to School Communication Toolkit
Safe Routes to School conversations often focus on infrastructure: sidewalks, bike lanes, crossings, traffic calming, and intersection design.
But infrastructure is only part of the picture.
The messages families receive from schools, districts, cities, PTAs, and community organizations also shape how students travel to school. Communications influence expectations, reinforce safety behaviors, normalize transportation choices, and help create a culture where walking, biking, rolling, transit, carpooling, and driving all have a place.
Last fall, Bike Lakewood created an Active Transportation Messaging Guide for Lakewood City Schools focused on incorporating walking, biking, and SchoolPool language into school communications.
Since then, continued Safe Routes to School work, transportation observations, and conversations with community partners highlighted additional opportunities to strengthen communication around:
- arrival and dismissal procedures
- pedestrian and bicycle safety
- accessibility
- traffic operations
- construction impacts
- air quality and idling
- school-area infrastructure changes
- multimodal transportation options
To support that work, Bike Lakewood has created the Safe Routes to School Communication Toolkit.
This new resource expands beyond active transportation encouragement alone and includes:
- Core messaging principles
- Sample transportation language for schools
- Safety-focused messaging related to driver behavior
- Public infrastructure and traffic communication examples
- Guidance that centers the safety of students walking and biking while recognizing all transportation modes
The toolkit is intended for:
- School administrators
- District communications and marketing teams
- PTA/PTO leaders
- Family coordinators
- City staff communicating about school-area transportation, construction, and infrastructure projects
- Community organizations supporting Safe Routes to School efforts
Like the Walk Audit Toolkit and Intersection Audit Toolkit, this resource is intended to be practical, adaptable, and easy to use.
Download the Safe Routes to School Communication Toolkit here:
SRTS Communication Toolkit
This toolkit is being released as a living resource and may continue to evolve as new communication challenges, safety concerns, and opportunities are identified.
If you use the toolkit or have suggestions for future additions, we’d love to hear from you at: