Valleyview/Westmoor School Travel Plan
As a part of the Hilltop Community Mobility Plan the study team is assisting Valleyview Elementary and Westmoor Middle Schools on a School Travel Plan.
What is a School Travel Plan (STP)?
A school travel plan outlines the community’s intentions for enabling students to engage in safe, active transportation. Active transportation is traveling by means other than a motorized vehicle to and from school. This is accomplished by reducing individual car trips, increasing walking and bicycling and by making the walking and bicycling environment safer. More specifically, the plan identifies the barriers to active transportation and lays out a set of solutions to address them.
Once completed, the School Travel Plan provides a guiding document to incorporate Safe Routes to Schools into your community. The School Travel Plan also is a required component for any Ohio Safe Routes to School (SRTS) application.
For additional information regarding School Travel Plans please go to:
ODOT School Travel Plan website
What is the Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) program?
The Safe Routes to Schools program is funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).
Starting a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is an opportunity to make walking and bicycling to school safer for children and to increase the number of children who choose to walk and bicycle. On a broader level, SRTS programs can enhance children’s health and well-being, ease traffic congestion near the school and improve air quality and improve community members’ overall quality of life.
For additional information regarding the Safe Routes to Schools program please go to:
What is the Ohio Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program?
There are 2 types of programs in Ohio which providing funding for infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects.
Infrastructure Projects
1. Engineering – Operational and physical improvements within 2 miles of schools that establish safer and fully accessible crossings, walkways, trails, and bikeways as well as planning activities.
Non-Infrastructure Projects
2. Education – Primarily focus on personal safety as well as the mechanics of walking or bike riding to and from school (such as Orientation or Walk Smart programs).
3. Encouragement – Focus on the benefits of walking or bike riding to and from school (such as Walking School Bus or Walk to School Day programs).
4. Enforcement – Initiating community enforcement such as crossing guard training programs.
5. Evaluation – Monitoring and documenting outcomes and trends through the collection of data, including the collection of data before and after the countermeasure (such as Walkability studies or Bike/Pedestrian Counts).
How can you be a part of the School Travel Plan?
Anybody can get involved and provide us with known barriers that affect your (or others) children from getting to and from Valleyview and Westmoor schools. In addition, we’d like to hear your possible solutions regarding safer ways to walk or bike to school. There are several ways you can help:
Send us an email at: HilltopMobility@transystems.com
Or if you are the parent of a child at Valleyview or Westmoor schools please fill out this survey (Parent Survey) and mail it back to the study team at:
Hilltop Community Mobility Plan Study Team
TranSystems
1105 Schrock Road, Suite 400
Columbus, OH 43229
Or call 614-433-7831.
Thank you for your interest in providing children with safer routes to schools.