Intervention:
Twenty-two studies (nine moderate quality and 13 poor quality) examined the effectiveness of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programme or similar multicomponent initiatives. SRTS is a national programme promoting safe options for walking and cycling to school in the USA. The interventions in this category consisted of policy changes at local/ regional levels and upgrades to physical infrastructure, along with behaviour change strategies to improve access to and attitude towards active travel in school-going children. These included funding/ grants for schools; improvements of cycling and walking paths; enforcement of speed reduction zones, traffic signals and car drop off zones; installation of bike racks, lockers in schools and shelters; safety education; curriculum; tools; organising promotion days and promotion events; and incentivising uptake of active travel. Such initiatives also involve delivering a range of associated school travel initiatives, such as walking buses, or cycling promotion. Most studies (USA and non-USA) were large multi-school evaluations (primary and/or secondary schools) with one USA study evaluating 125 SRTS projects across 350 schools. All of those in the USA examined the SRTS programme, with some comparing it to other programmes or additional components.
Evidence quality:
The majority of studies showed an effect in favour of the intervention, but many did not report whether their findings were statistically significant. Most studies were also poor quality.
Generalisability:
Seven studies were conducted in the USA, five in the UK, four in Australia, two in Canada, two in Denmark and one each in New Zealand and Ireland. Therefore, the intervention could be partially generalisable to Wales, but further context-specific exploration should be considered.
If proceeding with this intervention:
It is suggested that further robust research and thorough evaluation of impact is needed.