School staff, parents, community members and SFMTA staff gather at Alvarado Elementary School to conduct a Walk Audit.
Getting kids to school safely is a top priority for our teams at the SFMTA. One way we create safer conditions is through our School Walk Audit Program. Each year, we select 10 schools for this program.
So, what is a school walk audit? It's just like it sounds. SFMTA staff join school and community representatives to walk the area and look for things that make it harder to walk to school safely.
That could be:
- Faded striping on the roads
- Tricky crossings
- Blind spots
- People driving too fast
Then, we make changes to address those issues so that San Francisco’s students can get to school safely.
Read on to learn about our upcoming walk audits, which will begin in April and run through the rest of the year, as well as the improvements they shape. And see the other ways we prioritize school safety all year.
We're excited to announce this year's 10 schools:
- School: Balboa High School
- Neighborhood: Excelsior
- Enrollment: 1200
- School: James Denman Middle School/Leadership Charter High School
- Neighborhood: Excelsior
- Enrollment: 805
- School: John O’Connell High School
- Neighborhood: Mission
- Enrollment: 480
- School: Gordon J. Lau Elementary School/Preschool
- Neighborhood: Chinatown
- Enrollment: 627
- School: Bryant Early Education/Bryant Elementary School
- Neighborhood: Mission
- Enrollment: 235
- School: Junipero Serra Elementary School
- Neighborhood: Excelsior
- Enrollment: 279
- School: Saint Brigid School
- Neighborhood: Russian Hill/Nob Hill
- Enrollment: 66
- School: Dolores Huerta Elementary School/Preschool
- Neighborhood: Glen Park
- Enrollment: 406
- School: Presidio Middle School
- Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
- Enrollment: 980
- School: Abraham Lincoln High School
- Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
- Enrollment: 2037
- School: Chinese American International School
- Neighborhood: Pacific Heights/Presidio Heights
- Enrollment: 308
Since Balboa High School and Denman Middle School are next to each other, we'll be doing a joint walk audit for both at the same time.
What improvements look like
SFMTA staff look for possible safety improvements at Bessie Carmichael K-5/Filipino Education Center.
Safety improvements could be anything from speed humps or raised crosswalks to keeping nearby crosswalks clear through daylighting.
In four previous cycles (FY19, FY21, FY23, FY25), staff conducted walk audits at 26 schools. In the first 3 years of the program, we installed or legislated 63 traffic calming devices (speed humps, cushions, tables, raised crosswalks) and daylighting at more than 80 approaches. We also make sure to refer out items that fall under other teams or agencies, or can be included in longer-term capital projects.
For example, at Starr King Elementary School, we made numerous changes to enforcement, intersections, loading zones and striping, based on feedback from the Walk Audit we conducted there in 2022.
At Aptos Middle School, we implemented mid-block traffic calming, signal upgrades and several operational changes in 2020 to improve how students get to and from school.
We know that school staff, students and parents appreciate these improvements. After one of our walk audits, we freshened up the paint in a crosswalk to make it easier for people driving to see kids crossing the street. A parent at the school wrote us to say:
“Thanks again for conducting the Walk Audit with the Argonne Elementary School community. It was really helpful to discuss some of the safety concerns we have and hear what SFMTA can do to address them.”
How we pick schools
We start by looking at every public and private K-12 school in the city and ranking them based on two things:
- How many pedestrian collisions have happened within a quarter mile of campus in the last five years
- How many students are enrolled
We also get help from our Safe Routes to Schools Program. Staff from the program advise on economic equity at different schools and where there’s potential for kids to ride or bike more.
We then take a few schools off the list:
- Schools that have already had a walk audit
- Schools where big street improvements are already planned or underway in the area
- Schools with needs that are too large for the kinds of fixes our program can make and would be better served by capital infrastructure improvements
This year's schools are spread across 8 of San Francisco's 11 districts. Over the past four years, every single district in the city has been part of this program. We have carried out walk audits at 26 schools. We’ll begin with our first walk audit this April, and continue through the rest of 2026.
Prioritizing school safety in a range of ways
SFMTA crossing guards serve 96 public and private schools throughout San Francisco.
We have several programs that make it easier for your kids to get to school, no matter which school they go to in San Francisco.
Our 165 crossing guards serve 96 public and private schools, while our Safe Routes to School Program offers pedestrian safety lessons and group walks, bike rides and transit field trips.
We’re working to keep all intersections within 600 feet of a school clear of parked cars. We have also installed speed safety cameras near schools and parks. And, staff from the Muni Transit Assistance Program ride buses popular with students to make sure everyone behaves safely.
Learn more about the School Walk Audit Program
Want to know more? Check out our School Walk Audit Program page for past reports and details about how the audits work.