Safer Streets for School-Aged Pedestrians
Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School organizes events like the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. Its mission is to make walking, biking, and public transit safe for youth or anyone with places to go. By Rob Saffeels.
This story is sponsored by Physical Therapy Project.
Learn More...
Oregon.gov Initial Fatal Crash Information – https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Data/Pages/Initial-Fatal-Info-Viewer.aspx
City of Salem – https://www.cityofsalem.net/
Salem-Keizer Public Schools – https://salkeiz.k12.or.us/
Salem-Keizer Safe Routes To School Program – https://www.mwvcog.org/transportation/page/safe-routes-school-program
Cherriots – https://www.cherriots.org/services/
Physical Therapy Project – https://theptproject.net/
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Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School leads the way to safer commutes for Marion County youth. You’re watching the “Local News Network” brought to you by The Physical Therapy Project. I’m Sadie Smith. Of the 10 fatal car accidents in Marion County this year, five victims have been pedestrians according to preliminary data from the Oregon Department of Transportation. If the trend continues, the county will surpass last year’s total of 11 pedestrian deaths. Safe Routes to School wants to reverse that trend with its advocacy for safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, and its educational activities.
Every time a pedestrian was killed here, I couldn’t believe it, that it just kept happening, and that was so challenging to me because I thought everybody would feel as shocked as I was. And people are, they truly are. But then when the school year started and in the first couple weeks of school, we had students hit by a car on the crosswalk on the way to school. And I didn’t find out about it until it was word of mouth. And that was frustrating to me because I didn’t understand why everybody didn’t know that.
Safe Routes approaches pedestrian safety with several assessments, from traffic infrastructure to accessibility for all. In the Salem-Keizer School District, many schools, like Washington Elementary, have an increased risk of pedestrian accidents because their neighborhoods have almost no stop signs. Morningside, Cesar Chavez, and Candalaria Elementary Schools have the challenge of protecting students who ride their bikes to school.
Community safety is a really important component of how we support our students here at Candalaria, particularly because we’re right in the middle of a neighborhood. We don’t have a parking lot, and arrival and dismissal is a major way that we’re focused on, making sure that students are safe. We only have about 15 students that take the bus out of 279 students, and so we’ve got a lot of foot traffic. Pedestrian and community safety is critical for our students here.
From practicing hand signals for turns to checking brakes and tires before hitting the road, students are learning street smarts that could save lives.
My favorite part about bike safety is if you learn how to ride a bike, then you can ride outside in public and stay safe, instead of getting injured.
Schmidt coordinates community events, like Bicycle Safety Assemblies and organized walks.
We had three schools last year that we piloted, and this year, we have six schools. We doubled that amount. Most of everything this year was, like, I think we doubled. We really have worked very hard this year, and I’m very proud of the progress. Like Ruby Bridges, you know, the first year we had one school, the next year we had eight, this past year we had 11. So we’ll see where we go on 2025, I have high hopes that we’ll continue to grow.
Safe Routes to School works with volunteers, bike clubs, bike shops, municipalities, ODOT, and Cherriots Public Transit to promote safety awareness.
We were able to launch the Youth Zero Pass Program, which basically gives free access to a bus to all students and youth in our area and our ridership regionwide. So that’s also for Cherriots local in Salem, but then also our regional buses, which serve other communities like Monmouth, Independence, Dallas, Dayton. Our ridership with youth alone has increased 26%, so it’s been pretty significant, and it just, I think, shows that more youth are riding because they feel safe.
Dr. Irvine Brown has been an advocate of the Ruby Bridges march each November and the Martin Luther King MLK Walk in February. He says he wants to offer the community a new perspective about safety in his role as a city counselor.
Being safe does not come free. It is something that we have to pay for. There’s some sacrifice that goes with this, and so when I think about young children or schools partnering with each other, that’s going to cost them something. Meaning you got to, yeah, get up early in the morning, right? Rain or shine, you got to show up for this particular walk. The police are going to show up, moms are going to show up, dads are going to show up, guardians, everybody’s going to show up to this because it’s a sacrifice. You are saying that this matters.
[Students and Staff] Go Huskies!
To get involved or learn more about Safe Routes, visit midvalleylocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the “Local News Network.” I’m Sadie Smith.
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