Policy and Places for Walking & Wheeling
Active & Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) recommends policies and planning supportive of active transportation on local and provincial levels. It also advocates for more walking & wheeling infrastructure in our communities.
A core issue is that of school siting - where we locate our schools. ASRTS developed a Discussion Brief: Reducing Childhood Obesity by Increasing Opportunities for Active Transportation to stimulate discussion regarding the need to ensure that provincial school siting decisions support efforts to reduce childhood obesity by increasing opportunities for active transportation to and from school. Please refer to our briefing note, which puts the Discussion Brief into context.
Other key policy documents include:
- Child-and Youth- Friendly Land Use and Transport Planning Guidelines
- Risk Management and Active School Travel
Success: Speed Reduction in School Zones in Nova Scotia
Active & Safe Routes to School was successful in building support to reduce speeds in school zones to help make our streets safe. View our background document to learn more about what motivated ASRTS to ask the Province of Nova Scotia to change the Motor Vehicle Act to make this possible. It ultimately heard our voice and those of our supporters: on May 24, 2011 the NS Government announced plans to reduce speeds in school zones from 50 km/h to 30 km/h.
We thank the following organizations for expressing their support for reducing speeds in school zones:
- AcTrac (Active Transportation Coalition of Cape Breton County)
- Basinview Drive Community School Travel Planning Committee
- Cape Breton Regional Municipality
- Central Inverness Community Health Board
- Cobequid Community Health Board
- Dartmouth Community Health Board
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia
- Hike Nova Scotia
- Injury Free Nova Scotia
- LeMarchant-St. Thomas Elementary Home and School Association
- Lunenburg County Community Health Board
- Nova Scotia Bikeways Coalition
- Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association
- Recreation Nova Scotia
- Safe Communities HRM
- Safe Kids Canada
- St. Stephen’s Elementary School Travel Planning Committee
- Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities
Who We Work With and How
ASRTS works with school-based groups such as school administration, Parent-Teacher Associations, School Advisory Councils, student groups and school staff.
Outside of schools, ASRTS works with youth and community organizations as well as a wide range of stakeholders from education, health, safety, recreation, trails, environment, law enforcement, transportation and planning sectors.
Is ASRTS for You?
To help you figure out if ASRTS is for your school or community, we offer introductory presentations. Call us or email to book your group’s presentation
The Program: Five Easy Steps
ASRTS helps school communities create active transportation plans to help more children and youth walk and wheel our streets in safety. It offers in-depth consultations to guide school and community groups through a five-step process:
- Program Setup & Identify a Program Team
- Gather Data & Identify Problems
- Create an Action Plan
- Implement and Celebrate
- Evaluation and Ongoing Monitoring
Overview of School Travel Planning in Nova Scotia
List of Schools Participating in School Travel Planning in Nova Scotia
School Travel Planning in Nova Scotia 2010-11 Year-End Report
2010 School Travel Planning Baseline Family Survey Results
School Travel Planning is part of a national project called Children’s Mobility, Health and Happiness: a Canadian School Travel Planning Model.
Related to School Travel Planning are the Child- and Youth-Friendly Land-use and Transport Planning Guidelines for Nova Scotia, the Sustainable Happiness and Health Education Teacher’s Guide (P-6) and Risk Management and Active School Travel. Also, Green Schools Nova Scotia has a transportation component that ties in well with School Travel Planning.
Testimonials from students and parents on the value of walking and cycling to school.
Learn the latest news on School Travel Planning across Canada:
School Travel Planning News, Fall 2011
School Travel Planning News, Spring/Summer 2011
School Travel Planning News, Winter 2011
School Travel Planning News, Fall 2010
School Travel Planning News, Spring 2010
School Travel Planning News, Winter 2010
School Travel Planning News, Fall 2009
School Travel Planning News, Spring 2009
School Travel Planning News, Fall 2008
School Travel Planning News, Spring 2008
Production of this material has been made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada, through the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer; and from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein represent the views of Ecology Action Centre and do not necessarily represent the views of the project funders.
