Bike and Roll to School Day is May 3

Kids who bike to school have better physical health and concentration, but many kids don’t enjoy these benefits because they don’t have safe routes. Bike and Roll to School Day (BRTSD) is held every year to remind our community that every student, family, and educator deserves to get to and from school safely. Whether you’re a BRTSD veteran or a novice, we’d love you to join your local ride this year.

A key intersection between schools, safety, and health

In Ward 7, Miner Elementary’s new principal kicked off this school year regularly serving as morning crossing guard. Meanwhile, a parent at Tyler Elementary regularly documents hurdles that students face while crossing 11th Street NE to get to school. While schools like Miner have worked with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to have traffic calming measures added nearby, more can be done to ensure student safety on the way to and from school. Parents and staff have repeatedly raised concerns about issues from failure to slow down at crosswalks, to speeding, to simply ignoring stop signs.

Last month, the “Safe Streets for Students Amendment Act of 2022” (B24-66) came into effect. This law includes elements of the Safe Routes to School Expansion Regulation Amendment Act of 2021 introduced by Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. It “expand(s) school zones, improve(s) DC’s crossing guard program, and bring(s) raised crosswalks, speed bumps, and curb extensions in the streets around our schools.”

The law brings additional funding to safe routes, and we look forward to DDOT implementing improved safety infrastructure across all school zones, as well as further investment in DDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program.

Using art to improve safety

We hope implementation of the Safe Streets for Students law will mean all schools, including Miner and Tyler, benefit from safer, calmer drop-off zones. In the short term, there are plans to implement a “ground mural” at Miner. DDOT has pointed to a study from Bloomberg Philanthropies that shows streets with art incorporated on the asphalt result in fewer crashes. “While these projects can also improve safety by increasing visibility of pedestrian spaces and crosswalks through other pedestrian safety countermeasures, the locations with asphalt art showed correlation with reduced crash rates.”

Miner is one of four schools selected for this year’s Color the Curb program, a collaborative project between the District Department of Transportation (DDOT)’s Arts in the Right-of-Way (AROW) program, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH), and DC Public Schools (DCPS). You can see the sites of other curb extension murals across the city here. Parents at Miner, as well as staff, are hopeful the curb mural will add an additional level of safety for students traveling to school (as well as adding something fun and pleasing to the eye). Miner’s art teacher is serving as the school’s liaison with the Color the Curb program to install the mural.

Join us in Capitol Hill this Wednesday

Families in Capitol Hill have been celebrating Bike and Roll to School Day since the National Center for Safe Routes to School first launched it in May 2012. (We also celebrate Walk to School Day in the Fall). Families from over a dozen local schools achieve the impossible feat of getting kids out of the house early in order to meet at Lincoln Park, enjoy the world-famous Eastern High School Marching Band, student performances, and activities before rolling to school in mass rides (scoots, strolls, etc.). Bike and Roll to School Day takes place across the country, and many DC schools host their own events. You can see whether your school’s event is registered here.

In Capitol Hill, the Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization (W6PSPO) collaborates with nearby schools, local and national partners to organize this event because while Ward 6 has many routes with biking and walking-friendly infrastructure, driver behavior surrounding schools still presents risk of traffic violence.

In past years, we’ve used crowdsourcing to highlighting safety issues and other themes. This year, we’re excited about the creative potential of the Color the Curb program, so we made it the theme of our Bike and Roll to School Day event! You’re all invited to Color the Ride with us on Wednesday May 3, 7:30 - 8:15am at Lincoln Park.