Safe Route to School

LTA, HDB, Schools

The Safe Route to School project aims to work together with schools and the community to encourage young students to take safe walking routes to school from nearby transport nodes.

Spearheaded by LTA, it is a ground-up initiative where agencies came together to review available walking paths and come up with suitable recommended routes.  Where necessary, infrastructure improvements were built along the routes by LTA and HDB. Students from the school were roped in to brainstorm and design traffic signs that could help nudge fellow students to take the recommended walking route and remind motorists in the area to slow down. Through communication channels by the People’s Association and the school, information was shared with parents and residents to enhance awareness of the project.

The project was launched as a trial at three schools; CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, Pasir Ris Primary School and Concord Primary School in January 2020 and was well-received by the community.

One of the positive impacts arising from the project was that more students used the nearby raised zebra crossing, where motorists and the students had a better view of one another. Previously, students would cross at the entry and exit of the carpark, which had heavier traffic flow and thus was more dangerous. Signs designed by students, together with the presence of a school marshall, helped to reinforce the importance of road safety awareness for students crossing at the carpark access. 

For other locations where there were signs installed but without a marshal stationed, a significant drop in jaywalking was noticed, showing a marked improvement.

Following the trial, more than 300 ‘Likes’ and positive comments were received on LTA’s post on Workplace and the Advisor’s social media post. The NewPaper and Lianhe Zaobao also covered the initiative. 40 other primary schools have since been engaged and the project will be progressively rolled out to other schools.