City-School Groups Full the School Travel Fellowship

Five metropolis and faculty groups from throughout San Mateo County not too long ago concluded their seven-month School Travel Fellowship, celebrating their achievements at a capstone occasion that showcased their progressive initiatives. The Fellowship, a collaboration between the San Mateo County Office of Education’s Safe Routes to School program and San Mateo County Health Equity, Policy and Planning (HEPP), creates a chance for cities to accomplice with their respective colleges to assist protected and energetic scholar journey. This yr’s cohort was funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety, the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County, and San Mateo County HEPP. 

This yr, groups from East Palo Alto, Millbrae, San Carlos, San Mateo County/Montara, and South San Francisco piloted demonstration initiatives to enhance pedestrian and bicycle security for college kids, typically utilizing quick-build supplies and stroll audits to check new concepts. In Millbrae, for instance, the School Travel Fellowship crew got down to enhance the variety of college students biking and strolling to Green Hills Elementary School. ​​The crew targeted on quick-build visitors calming measures similar to high-visibility ladder crosswalks, sidewalk bulb-outs, and new signage. They additionally launched crosswalk flagging and flashing beacons to make pedestrians extra seen to drivers. At the identical time, workers labored carefully with the Parent Teacher Association to spice up engagement and energize the varsity group with month-to-month Walk to School Buses and a Golden Sneaker Contest. The crew is now making ready for everlasting visitors calming development in Spring 2026.

Meanwhile, at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto, one other crew performed a stroll audit with Alta Planning, bringing collectively college, metropolis, and group stakeholders to watch morning drop-off patterns and determine security issues. This collaborative course of led to the set up of an illustration mission simply earlier than the varsity yr started. The mission featured a curb extension and versatile delineators to shorten crossing distances and enhance visibility. The crew additionally enforced daylighting by making a no-parking zone on the intersection, bodily stopping parking and enhancing security. The crew’s efforts resulted in tangible security enhancements and stronger connections between residents, metropolis officers, and faculty workers, all united within the objective of supporting scholar security.

With the conclusion of this system’s fourth cohort, the School Travel Fellowship continues to construct momentum. Applications for the fifth cohort will open later this college yr, inviting new groups to hitch in strengthening partnerships between cities, colleges, and group organizations—and driving systems-level adjustments that create safer, extra energetic routes for college kids.