PBOT Safe Routes to School

PBOT Safe Routes to School Partnering transportation with schools, neighborhoods & community organizations to encourage students

Partnering transportation with schools, neighborhoods, & community organizations to encourage students & families to get to school in ways that reduce traffic, increase safety, build strong bodies & clear minds, & provide a cleaner environment.

Spring break is next week — and kids will be traveling on our streets at different times than usual. We partner with sch...
03/18/2026

Spring break is next week — and kids will be traveling on our streets at different times than usual.
 
We partner with schools across Portland to help thousands of students learn how to travel safely. But we all have a role to play.

- Slow down and avoid distractions
- Take care when backing up
- Use extra caution in low light
- Follow traffic rules
- Yield to pedestrians
- Watch for people walking, biking, and rolling

Community-based organizations are key-partners in this work. Slavic Community Center of NW, through funding from the Oregon Department of Transportation, is helping deliver transportation safety education for Russian-speaking youth. 
 
This month, their team led community walks for Russian-English dual-language immersion classes at Kelly Elementary School. Students explores their neighborhood while learning about pedestrian safety, crossing skills, and how street design supports safe travel. 
 
Tap the link in our bio to learn more about transportation safety education.

Meet some of the people that help Portland kids and families travel to and from school safely (baby edition).The Safe Ro...
03/12/2026

Meet some of the people that help Portland kids and families travel to and from school safely (baby edition).

The Safe Routes to School program at the Portland Bureau of Transportation is a partnership between the city, schools, neighborhoods, community organizations, and other government agencies. It helps students and their families walk, bike, and roll to and from school and around their neighborhoods. Through education, engagement, and infrastructure improvements like crosswalks, speed bumps, and stop signs, Safe Routes to School helps make it easier, safer, healthier, and more fun for students and families to travel through their neighborhoods. Programs like this help decrease traffic congestion, reduce the impact of climate change, and encourage positive physical and mental wellbeing.

Safe Routes to School currently serves more than 100 high, middle, elementary, K-8, and K-12 schools across five Portland school districts — Portland Public, David Douglas, Parkrose, Centennial, and Reynolds. 

These are our goals:
1. No child is involved in a serious traffic crash on their way to or from school
2. Every child who wants to walk, bike, roll, or take transit to school knows how to do so safely
3. The community understands how Safe Routes to School reduces congestion and the impacts of climate change

Don't get us wrong. We believe whole-heartedly that everyone can bike year-round. But sometimes nothing is better than w...
01/16/2026

Don't get us wrong. We believe whole-heartedly that everyone can bike year-round. But sometimes nothing is better than when it's mid-January, not a cloud in the sky, and the warm sun battles your face against the 40-something degree temps. It's pure bliss.

Our Safe Routes to School team works every month of the year to bring bike safety education to more classrooms across Portland. We trained 28 new educators last year to become transportation safety experts for their school community — helping us expand our reach beyond what we would be able to do through direct education between our staff and students alone. This creative strategy allowed more than 3,300 students to take part in bike safety education last school year alone.

Now available! The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Program Summary 2024-25.This report is more...
01/14/2026

Now available! The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Program Summary 2024-25.

This report is more than just a summary of the work our program (and many, many partners!) accomplished in the recent school year to help students and their families walk, bike, and roll to and from their school and around their neighborhoods. It’s also a collection of dozens of inspiring stories that tell how people in Portland are making their streets safer, their communities healthier, and their lives more enjoyable.

Swipe left to learn about what we’ve been up to lately, including:
- Building stronger relationships with school districts
- Helping more educators teach our transportations safety curriculum
- Engaging high school students in new ways with BIKETOWN
- Ensuring more than 12,900 students receive transportation safety education
- Completing 25 crossing, 15 speed, and 10 walkway projects
- Partnering with schools to address circulation issues
- Supporting bike buses to help motivate students to be physically active
- Providing 180 bikes in our fleet to support bike safety education
- Sharing our monthly newsletter with more than 7,600 subscribers

Our work is made possible with support from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, Metro, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the Federal Transit Administration.

Tap this link to read the report: portland.gov/transportation/walking-biking-transit-safety/safe-routes/safe-routes-school-program-summary

We joined kids and families at Vernon K-8 School on a Friday morning bike bus to ask: What does it take to bike to schoo...
01/05/2026

We joined kids and families at Vernon K-8 School on a Friday morning bike bus to ask: What does it take to bike to school when it's cold and rainy?

Their answer: the right gear and a good attitude. Cozy mittens. Lights for visibility. Puffy jackets, rain jackets, and rain pants. Rain boots, gloves, and hoodies.

"There's no bad weather, only bad clothing." With appropriate layers, kids and adults can stay comfortable and enjoy being outside rain or shine.

One more tip: Set out gear the night before so mornings are easier.

Keeps these ideas in mind as you get ready for Winter Walk+Roll to School Day on Wednesday, February 4. Last year, 40 Portland schools took part. Let's make it ever more this year!

01/05/2026

We joined kids and families at Vernon K-8 School on a Friday morning bike bus to ask: What does it take to bike to school when it’s cold and rainy? 
 
Their answer: the right gear and a good attitude. Cozy mittens. Lights for visibility. Puffy jackets, rain jackets, and rain pants. Rain boots, gloves, and hoodies. 
 
“There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing.” With appropriate layers, kids and adults can stay comfortable and enjoy being outside rain or shine. 
 
One more tip: Set out gear the night before so mornings are easier.
 
Keeps these ideas in mind as you get ready for Winter Walk+Roll to School Day on Wednesday, February 4. Last year, 40 Portland schools took part. Let’s make it ever more this year! 
 
Tap the link in our bio to learn more about Winter Walk+Roll to School Day.

12/11/2025

Biking to school isn’t just good for you, the climate, and congestion. It’s also magical. 
 
We hear endless stories from Portland kids and families about how much they love biking to school — especially when they do it together with friends, classmates, and neighbors!

It’s a chance to see the neighborhood from a different perspective, wave to friendly faces, and most certainly smile before the school bell rings. 
 
Tap the link in our bio to learn more about how to bike to school!

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is tomorrow — Friday, November 14!This day honors the living legacy of the civil rights ...
11/13/2025

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is tomorrow — Friday, November 14!

This day honors the living legacy of the civil rights activist who etched her name in history when she walked to school and integrated all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Since then, Ruby has become a national icon for her courageous act.

The goal of Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is to inspire kids to make positive changes in their school and community.

In 1945 the US Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Brown v. the Board of Education ended racial segregation in public schools. However, southern states continued to resist. Ruby spent kindergarten in a segregated classroom. In 1960 a federal court ordered Louisiana schools to desegregate. The school district created an entrance exam to see if African American students could attend an all-white school. Ruby and five other students passed the exam. The six students were to be sent to two different all-white schools. The school district delayed their start, and Ruby's first day of school was November 14, 1960. A few days before, the two African American students who were going to attend with Ruby decided to stay in their home school. Ruby braved Frantz Elementary School on her own.

In May 2018, a group of fifth-graders from Martin Elementary School in South San Francisco, California, learned about Ruby and asked their school board to pass a resolution making November 14 Ruby Bridges Day. The San Mateo County Office of Education Safe Routes to School team met with students about making it a walk to school day and invited them to present this proposal to the San Mateo County Board of Education.

A resolution was passed endorsing November 14 as Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in San Mateo County. When November 14 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the event is celebrated on the following Wednesday. The Safe Routes to School team invited other schools to join the Martin Elementary School students in honoring Ruby's courage by celebrating this walk to school day. Fourteen schools participated in 2018 and 25 participated in 2019.

Tap this link to learn more about Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day: portland.gov/transportation/walking-biking-transit-safety/safe-routes/events/2025/11/14/ruby-bridges-walk-school.

This traffic safety tune is so catchy! Rigler Elementary School’s Colleen Cash is teaching her students this song to hel...
10/20/2025

This traffic safety tune is so catchy! Rigler Elementary School’s Colleen Cash is teaching her students this song to help make pedestrian safety education lessons more memorable, engaging, and fun!

Sing along with us:
Stop every time at the edge of the street.
Use your head before your feet.
Make sure you hear every sound.
Look left, look right, look all around!

This is Powell Butte Elementary's School's take on International Walk+Roll to School Day. Firefighters, cheerleaders, co...
10/09/2025

This is Powell Butte Elementary's School's take on International Walk+Roll to School Day. Firefighters, cheerleaders, cone and avocado costumes, music, real and robot school buses, and so much fun!

Portland Bureau of Transportation and Centennial School District's Safe Routes to School programs, Portland Fire & Rescue’s Station 31, Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, and City Councilor Jamie Dunphy showed up this morning to support Powell Butte Elementary School’s walking school buses and park-and-walk!

Several PBOT projects are close to Powell Butte Elementary School, supporting kids and families walking, biking, and rolling to school, including:
- SE 174th Ave Sidewalk (Kelly to Francis streets): 10-foot-wide sidewalk to connect neighborhood streets to Powell Butte Elementary School. New marked crossings at SE Haig Drive, Marie Street, and in front of the school. Street trees, stormwater improvements, and streetlighting. Construction is expected in early 2027.
- Speed reduction on neighborhood cut-through routes: Six speed cushions on SE 174th Avenue between Haig Drive and Marie Street. This project is expected to be constructed this month, weather permitting.

Bike bus. But make it fire ❤️‍🔥. Portland Bureau of Transportation's Safe Routes to School program, Portland Fire & Resc...
10/01/2025

Bike bus. But make it fire ❤️‍🔥.

Portland Bureau of Transportation's Safe Routes to School program, Portland Fire & Rescue's Station 19, Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, and City Councilor Steve Novik showed up this morning to support Vestal Elementary School's bike bus and walking school bus!

Several PBOT projects are close to Vestal Elementary School, supporting kids and families walking, biking, and rolling to school, including:
- Bike Bus Wayfinding Pilot Project: Partnering with Vestal Elementary School Bike Bus PDX leaders to support their bike bus and make biking to school safer through signage, pavement markings, messaging, and evaluation work.
- Vision Clearance: Expanding a safety initiative to improve visibility and reduce crashes. Vision clearance, “or daylighting,” sets back parking 20 feet near intersections and crossings.
- NE Glisan Street and 80th Avenue Crossing Improvements: Recent improvements to make it easier for people walking, biking, and rolling to cross one of the major commercial streets in the Montavilla neighborhood.
- 70’s Neighborhood Greenway: SE Flavel to NE Sacramento: New neighborhood greenway from SE Flavel to NE Sacramento streets, as well as roadside-accessible rectangular rapid-flashing beacon activation button at NE 78th Avenue and Glisan Street making the intersection safer and easier for bicyclists to cross.
- 82nd Avenue: Glisan and Davis Signal Improvements: Critical safety improvements to 82nd Avenue, including rebuilding signals at NE Glisan and Davis streets along the Vestal Elementary School walking school bus route. Construction begins next year.

International Walk+Roll to School Day is coming Wednesday October 8! Are you ready?International Walk+Roll to School Day...
09/23/2025

International Walk+Roll to School Day is coming Wednesday October 8! Are you ready?

International Walk+Roll to School Day is a global event that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking and rolling to school on the Wednesday of the first full week of October. In 2024, Oregon had the highest participation rate in the country for with nearly 23% of K–8 schools joining in! That same year, 42 Portland schools participated!

Order ahead of time to make sure you have incentives ready for International Walk+Roll to School Day! Incentives include stickers, reflective shoelaces, pencils, comics, bookmarks, activity sheets, and coloring books. Portland Public Schools and Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, and Reynolds school districts have different incentive ordering processes with the earliest deadline this Wednesday, September 24.

Tap this link to learn more about how to order incentives for International Walk+Roll to School Day: http://portland.gov/.../2025/10/8/international-walkroll.

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1120 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 1331
Portland, OR
97204

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