Committee hears plan to expand Safe Routes to School, update school-zone guidelines

Boston City Council Committee on Planning, Development and Transportation Chair Councilor Sharon Durkin convened a hearing on April 3 to consider an order (docket 0309) to explore creation of state safe school zones and broader, citywide pedestrian-safety measures around Boston schools.

The proposal under review would expand the city’s Safe Routes to School work — a multiagency task force led by the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Public Schools and the Boston Transportation Department — by completing school-area assessments, updating school-zone guidelines and advancing both near-term safety interventions and longer-term design changes in prioritized locations.

Mary Bovenzie, director of chronic disease prevention and control at the Boston Public Health Commission, told the committee that pedestrian injuries and fatalities remain serious public-health concerns in Boston. “In 2024, just last year, EMS reported 466 injuries to pedestrians involved in crashes on our streets,” Bovenzie said. “And sadly, there were 12 pedestrian fatalities.” She said children are “vulnerable road users,” and that speed reductions, safer street design, enforcement and education together “will lead to many lives saved.”

City staff described a framework for identifying priority schools and the interventions the city is considering. Sylvia Castanos, Safe Routes to School planner at the Boston Transportation Department, said the city has identified 66 priority schools — locations with more than one pediatric crash per year within a half-mile — and is using a 500-foot “school area” radius as a planning tool to capture the multiple streets, entrances and pick-up/drop-off locations that students actually use.

"When we review these schools we kind of were looking at who was highest on the list, and as well as how they were grouped geographically," Castanos said. She described the assessment process: arrival-and-dismissal observations, interviews with principals and school staff, engagement with parents, mapping of walking and bus routes, and short- and long-term safety plans developed with Boston Public Schools and the city’s infrastructure and design group.

Staff said school-area assessments inform both small, short-term fixes — added signage, painted crosswalks, no-parking restrictions during arrival/dismissal — and larger infrastructure changes such as curb extensions, widened medians, signal improvements and speed humps. Castanos noted current practice typically places a school-zone speed sign in front of the school and limits the sign coverage to about 300 feet on the “front of campus,” and said the updated guidelines would allow school zones, 20-mph safety surge areas and 15-mph advisory signs to cover broader, more realistic school areas and clusters when warranted.

Jill Carter, senior executive director of the Office of Health and Wellness at Boston Public Schools, said walking and biking remain common for students: “In 2023, 50 percent of BPS high school students and 50 percent of middle school students reported walking or riding a bicycle to or from school on one or more days,” she said, noting the district’s role in education and coordination with city agencies.

Staff also reviewed education and engagement work tied to infrastructure: youth cycling programs and pedestrian-safety lessons led by a Safe Routes educator (Sam Beth), summer bike-crew activities and placekeeping projects such as street murals, trees and seating intended to signal school areas to drivers.

Councilors asked detailed, location-specific questions about pilot sites, crosswalk design, bus double-parking, and the crossing-guard program. Councilor Enrique Pepin asked for follow-up on seven pilot schools in the Garrison-Trotter area; Castanos said the pilot produced walking-school-bus routes and organizational changes at several schools and led to interventions — including the addition of a tactical curb extension, median widening and a planned curb bump-out — after a child was struck in one pilot area and subsequently recovered.

On crossing guards, staff said the city is finalizing an evaluation of the school traffic supervisor program and expects to share findings soon. Councilors noted ongoing vacancies among school traffic supervisor positions and discussed operational questions such as whether supervisors must sign in at police stations; staff said procedures vary and that the forthcoming evaluation includes recommendations on hiring, retention and program operations.

Several councilors urged making the Safe Routes planner position permanent and expanding funding for speed-hump and safety programs. Councilor Ed Flynn and others described speed, senior pedestrian risk and neighborhood-specific needs; Councilor John Fitzgerald and others advocated for consistent visual signals across the city and more enforcement to reinforce signage.

No formal votes were taken during the hearing. Chair Durkin closed the session after committee members and staff agreed to follow up on planned guideline updates, school-by-school plans for the 66 priority sites, and release of the crossing-guard evaluation.

The docket (0309) was heard and the committee adjourned; staff and councilors said they will return with recommended guidelines, site plans and the crossing-guard report for further consideration.