This brief aims to help state and local leaders, advocates, and other stakeholders better understand how they can lead comprehensive change to improve the safety of all modes of student transportation in their communities. The brief starts by assessing how students get to school and how modes of transportation have changed over the past 50 years.…

Diesel buses and personal vehicle trips for school transportation emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases per year into the environment, which contribute to global warming, and expose children to harmful pollutants that can affect their health and academic performance. What would it take for the yellow school bus--and school transportation…

Background: Active school transport (AST), school travel using an active mode like walking, may be important to children's overall physical activity. A "school travel plan" (STP) documents a school's transport characteristics and provides an action plan to address school and neighborhood barriers to AST. Methods: We conducted a pilot STP…

Background: Walking to school has been identified as an activity that contributes to children's daily exercise requirements. The purpose of this study was to better understand factors that influence walking to school by elementary school-aged children. Methods: A sample of 1,897 elementary school-aged children (84% response rate; 3rd-5th graders)…

This article addresses the many ways in which schools can provide physical activity opportunities for students by taking advantage of hours that students might otherwise spend waiting for school to begin or playing computer games after school has ended. The article presents creative strategies for engaging students in activities that are…