Route2School
Developing safe routes for schoolchildren and caregivers to access education
Safe school zones with two complementary tools
Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of public health crisis in most African countries. Specifically, road injuries are the second leading cause of death in the 5-14 age group, and the third leading cause of death in the 15-29 age group in the African Region in 2019 (WHO AFRO iAHO, 2023).
Schoolchildren are at increased risk due to a lack of self-control and underdeveloped physical and cognitive skills required to make safe decisions in traffic (Sangowawa et al., 2012). This risk is compounded by the absence of safe walkways to school (especially in rural areas), dangerous traffic conditions, mixed traffic lanes, and poorly maintained infrastructure.
Despite these challenges, a large number of African children walk to school daily, exposing them to significant road safety risks. A study conducted in primary schools in Cape Coast Metropolis revealed that most schoolchildren who walked to school did so unaccompanied (Seterwofia et al., 2020), a pattern also observed in Cape Town's primary schools (Koekemoer et al., 2017).
To address these issues, low-cost and efficient methods are needed to gather data on unsafe routes to school, which can inform targeted road safety interventions and context-specific educational materials.
Route2School offers two applications: one focusing on evidence-based, crowd-sourced maps to guide interventions, and another that provides an educational platform aimed at encouraging behavioural change among users.
Route2School: Map
The Route2School (R2S) Map application is an online, location-based platform developed by ABEONA Consult in collaboration with Hasselt University. It enables users, such as schoolchildren and their guardians, to identify dangerous locations along their home-to-school routes. The resulting maps provide municipalities, schools, policymakers, police, and other road safety organisations with a clear overview of the most dangerous and problematic areas, helping to target interventions effectively.
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How does it work?
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The data is collected via a web application or mobile app, allowing users to report issues such as the type of problem, mode of transport, the company involved, and a short description along with potential solutions. Users can also register their trips, such as their home-to-school routers. The map application then transforms and displays all reported trips and routes, creating a digital school route map.
Based on the data collected, frequently reported mobility issues and bottlenecks can be identified and discussed by relevant stakeholders. Together, they can agree on solutions across different domains. An action plan addressing areas like infrastructural improvements, education, awareness-raising, and enforcement can be developed in collaboration with the municipality, police, and schools to enhance the overall mobility situation.
CASE STUDY
Chuma Primary School, Cape Town
Students of Chuma Primary School were asked to indicate the sections of their route where they felt safe (green), sometimes unsafe (orange), and unsafe (red). The map on the right illustrates the reported bottlenecks and routes around the school. In parallel to highlighting these sections, students were asked to identify specific locations where they felt unsafe (perceived bottlenecks), describe the problem, and propose possible solutions.
The figure on the left presents an overview of the 66 bottlenecks reported around Chuma Primary School in Cape Town, South-Africa. The data highlights that the main issues in the area include excessive vehicle speeds, poor road surfaces, a lack of bicycle and pedestrian paths, and dangerous intersections.
Route2School:Education
The second tool, complementing the mapping feature, is Route2School Education. This online gamified learning platform aims to improve children's understanding of traffic in an engaging and enjoyable way, using context-based materials relevant to their own school environment. The platform incorporates proven scientific concepts like risk detection and situational awareness, alongside more common knowledge modules typically found in online learning tools.
The subjective road safety perceptions can be further complemented with objective infrastructure assessments, such as engineering audits using the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) toolkit or the Star Rating for School (SR4S). These assessments assist policymakers prioritise safety actions or interventions to improve mobility and safety of school zones.
How does it work?
This is an overview of the different modules of the gamified R2S Education road safety programme. Each of the four modules focuses on a specific aspect of road safety:
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Knowledge of traffic laws and regulations
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Situational awareness
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Risk identification
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Risk management
The final module brings together questions from all the previous modules to reinforce learning.
The Safe Systems Approach
In the R2S Map, most of the bottlenecks reported by schoolchildren and parents are related to infrastructural problems, speeding and the behaviour of other road users (i.e., safe road users, safe roads, and safe speeds).
The R2S Education platform, on the other hand, focuses on improving traffic awareness and promoting better road user behaviour (i.e., safe road users).
