San Francisco students encouraged to walk or roll to school this week

SAN FRANCISCO - Students across San Francisco are being encouraged to get outside and get active as the city celebrates "Walk and Roll to School Week."

The annual event promotes healthy and safe ways for students to get to class while highlighting ongoing efforts to improve traffic safety near schools.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, or SFMTA, says it has already met its 2030 goal of reducing school-related traffic collisions by half. The agency reports there have been no school-related crashes in the past two school years.

City and school district leaders joined students Wednesday morning for "walking school buses," bike trains, and family rides organized throughout the city. Students were given bright yellow capes and reflective backpack straps to make sure they're visible.

According to Walk San Francisco, an average of three pedestrians are hit by cars each day in the city — more than any other city in the state. Speed remains the leading cause of serious injuries and deaths.

"Kids are such an important reminder of why we need to make our streets really safe. When I think about all our kiddos getting out today, they are a lot shorter, they’re not as visible, right? And so the importance of our streets being designed and our drivers going slow, making sure they can see kids at intersections, is crucial," said Marta Lindsey with Walk SF.  

Earlier this year, San Francisco became the first city in California to launch a five-year pilot program using speed cameras. Thirty-three cameras have been installed across the city, eight of them near schools.

After an initial warning phase this summer, the city began issuing automated citations in August ranging from $50 to $500.

"The automated speed enforcement cameras that are meant to change people’s behavior really are working," said Viktoriya Wise, Director of Streets with SFMTA. "Where SFMTA actually put infrastructure in, we are seeing positive results. Not just from the speed cameras, but where we’re putting safety measures like traffic-calming, like some of our protected bike lanes, we are seeing positive results in terms of safety." 

At the start of the school year, SFMTA officials said speeding drivers near camera locations had dropped by about 30% within the first eight weeks of the program. And now the reduction is at about 70%.

"It’s really important that we as a community come together to make sure that all of our students come to school on time and safely," said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Maria Su. "It’s really important that our residents, our drivers slow down please."