From events to programs to projects, our teams work hard to make school trips safer.
We’re working as a city to make San Francisco more livable for families. At the SFMTA, that means giving families more options to get around.
That’s why we’re excited to launch Safe School Connections. This new initiative builds on the years of work we’ve done to make school trips safer and easier. Our long-term goal is to connect all 249 K-12 schools (public and private) in San Francisco to the city’s biking and rolling network.
Learn how community members shaped Safe School Connections, and how we’ll keep working together to make school trips safer.
And please take our survey (offered in English, Spanish, and Chinese) by Sept. 30, 2026. We’d like your feedback on our draft approach!
The starting point: Public feedback
Events help us connect with community members and learn what they need for their school trips.
Safe School Connections was shaped by community members. Advocates and caregivers interested in our Biking and Rolling Plan asked us to prioritize safe paths to school.
We listened and created Safe School Connections to help meet their needs. And we understand there’s a lot of work to be done!
As of July 2026, just 15% of schools are connected to the current biking and rolling network. This network supports all ages and abilities.
To build more of these school connections, we’re taking a three-part approach.
A strategy rooted in community
Our draft approach to Safe School Connections involves three parts:
- Partner more effectively with school communities by bringing together our school-related programs and efforts
- Identify the best paths to link schools to the biking and rolling network
- We’ll do this by bringing Safe School Connections into existing SFMTA efforts. They could include walk audits, capital projects and school community collaborations. We’ll also work with our Youth Advisory Board to engage school communities.
- Plan and build connections using a proven toolkit of options
- This toolkit spans safety and placemaking to programming and education.
- The School Connector streets we create will include a mix of these elements.
- For example, we could use traffic calming measures to create a School Connector street. Speed humps, raised crosswalks and signage may encourage students to try biking or rolling. And we could promote these upgrades with community-led events.
School Connector streets will make trips safer for students, families and school staff. And they’ll also help make neighborhoods more vibrant! So, the program supports both safety and the city’s comeback.
How we will prioritize and fund the work
Safe School Connections will give families and students safe, easy ways to reach school.
Connecting every school to the biking and rolling network could take up to 10 years. That’s why we’re breaking up the work into manageable pieces.
We will begin with opportunities where relatively small investments can have an outsized impact.
Our initial focus will be on:
- Connecting schools that are within a block of the existing network
- Connecting schools that are within a block of the potential network
Funding for these School Connectors could come from several sources. They include:
- Our Fiscal Year 2027-2031 Capital Improvement Program’s Streets Program
- Local, state and federal grants
We encourage you to review our full draft approach to learn more about Safe School Connections.
Part of our larger school strategy
We believe Safe School Connections will give families more options to get to school. This is one of our top priorities, and part of our larger school strategy. Our work on this includes:
- Extra Muni service during peak school hours
- Safety upgrades near schools – including our recent work by Mission Bay Elementary
- Lower speed limits near schools – thanks to a new state law, we set a new 20 mph default school speed limit, and more streets qualify for 15 mph limits
- Speed cameras – we've seen dangerous speeding drop by 80% across camera locations
You can learn more in our recent blog, Making Streets Safer for Families.
How to get involved
We want to hear from school communities across the city.
Please take our survey by Sept. 30, 2026. Feel free to share it with caregivers, school staff and others!
We will use community feedback to create a final approach. We expect to present it to our Board of Directors for approval by early 2027.
Thank you for partnering with us to make school streets safer for everyone!
Comments are for the English version of this page.