MnDOT Walk / Bicycle Zone Concept

collects information from parents of K-8th graders about how their children travel to and from school, their attitudes towards active transportation, and finally barriers that prevent their children from participating in active transportation modes of travel. The results were then entered into the National Centers’ database. These assessment tools illustrate the range of current barriers and opportunities, which is the foundation of the identified recommendations. It is recommended that these surveys be done annually with continuing WCI assistance so that trends in student travel behavior and parent perceptions can be identified and recorded with the National Centers for Safe Routes to School database. Understanding the possible changes in student travel trends will give the school, school district and WCI staff the information they need to determine if the goal of getting more children to walk and bike to and from school is being met.

All this information was then reviewed by the SRTS team and analyzed by the staff at WCI to provide a list of recommendations to improve walking and biking to and from school structured around the active transportation planning principles of the “6 Es”.

MNDOT WALK / BICYCLE ZONE CONCEPT

Children are more likely to walk or bicycle to school if they live within the school “Walk / Bicycle Zone.” MnDOT defines this as “the area within the school’s enrollment boundary from which students can realistically walk or bike to school.” MnDOT guidelines generally assume a distance of up to o.5 mile for children in grades PreK-5, one mile for grades 6-8, and 1.5 miles for grades 9-12 is within the Walk / Bicycle Zone.13

While not stated in any MnDOT documents, the Walk / Bicycle Zone distances are likely based on the following accepted standards:

• The average adult can walk a distance of 0.5 mile in 10 to 12 minutes. For a child in grades PreK-5, the same distance would likely require twice as much time (20 to 24 minutes) which is a reasonable amount of time to travel to school.

• For students in grades 6-8, 1 mile can likely be walked within 20 to 30 minutes, similar to an adult.

However, children in these grades have the maturity to bicycle that distance if there are no significant traffic hazard barriers. At the relaxed speeds of 8 to 10 mph (the bicycle equivalent to a modest walking pace), 1 mile can be bicycled in 6 to 8 minutes.

13 Minnesota DOT. Safe Routes to School: Neighborhood Assessment Guide. September, 2012. Available at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/saferoutes/pdf/srtschecklist.pdf . Accessed on November 16, 2015.