Walking and biking to school are healthy, fun and a great way to start the day. Here are some tips to help you pick a route and arrive safely:

Walking to school:

• Pick a route with sidewalks when possible.
• Cross busy streets at stoplights, stop signs or marked crosswalks if you can. If that’s not possible, cross carefully when you know drivers are stopping for you. 
• For younger students, practice the walking route together before school starts or for the first few days of school. 
• Walk with a buddy or in a group. Some schools have started walking lines or walking school buses so students and families can walk together.
• Dress for the weather. It’s a good idea to wear brighter, lighter clothes when the mornings are dark.

Biking to school:

• Find a route that feels safe to bike on. Trails, residential streets and streets with bike lanes are good options for biking. 
• The City of Saint Paul has maps that show bike routes in St. Paul on their website that you can use to help plan your route.
• Test out your biking route before you bike to school the first time so you know the way and are sure you have a route that is comfortable for you.
• Remember to wear a helmet and bring a bike lock.
• Follow the rules of the road: Ride on the right side of the road, signal your turns (point your arm in whichever direction you are going), and stop at stoplights. Bikers can treat stop signs as yield signs, but you should still slow down and only cross when you know it’s safe.

Visit spps.org/saferoutes for more tips on walking and biking to school safely!

Walk zones are the geographical areas in which students live and walk or bike to school. School bus service is not offered in these areas except for students who have special needs. Walk zones are determined by measuring the distance, in the most direct route, from the home of the student to the nearest property line of the school of attendance. Current walk boundaries established by Saint Paul Public Schools are approximately 0.5 miles for students in PreK-5, and approximately 1 mile for students in grades 6-12. 

In the maps linked below, the areas inside the blue boundaries (PreK-5) and yellow boundaries (6-12) are the walking zones.