Thank you for your interest in the City of Oakland's work to make it safer for families to travel to and from our neighborhood schools. Below please find links to important reports and updates on this work. OakDOT performs this work in coordination with the citywide Safe Oakland Streets initiative.
School Traffic Safety in Oakland
Traffic safety near schools is critical for our families, children, and our communities. On this page find the latest news and important background on our work to make it safer to go to and from Oakland's schools.
School Traffic Safety Requests
Travel to and from school can be a challenging part of day-to-day life for students, parents, and school staff. We seek to encourage safely walking and bicycling to school while accommodating drop-off and pick-up traffic and minimizing neighborhood impacts. OakDOT handles requests from schools on an ongoing basis. Generally our toolkit of short-turnaround measures includes signage, pavement markings including crosswalk markings, and curb paint. Local, residential streets near schools may also be eligible for the City's Speed Bump program.
How to Get Involved:
If you're a parent concerned about school traffic issues, please reach out to your school administrators and raise your concerns with them. They will work with OUSD transportation staff to make an appropriate recommendation. OakDOT and OUSD meet regularly to discuss school travel needs, which helps us to ensure that requests are consistent and prioritized within OakDOT's other activities. If you are a school official, please indicate this in your 311 request to flag it for prioritization.
Walk Audits and School Capital Projects
OakDOT partners with the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) to hold around five walk audits per year at schools with the support of a professional engineering team. The recommendations from these walk audits help to build a pipeline of school transportation capital projects. These are long-term efforts; most school traffic safety issues are better addressed through the service request process.
Learn more about walk audits here.
OakDOT Crossing Guard Program
Crossing Guards are an important school and community resource for safety. The Oakland Department of Transportation Crossing Guard program (formerly managed by the Oakland Police Department until early 2021) is comprised of part-time employees under the supervision of the School Traffic Safety Supervisor in the Safe Streets Division of OakDOT. Learn more about the Crossing Guard program here.
OakDOT School Safety Reports to the City Council
3/11/2020
Funding and Staffing for OakDOT’s School Safety Projects and Programs (Memo to Council, March 2020) (Memo)
6/17/2019
Special Concurrent Meeting of the Education Partnership Committee and the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education
Subject: Informational Report On The Safe Routes To Schools Program From: Councilmember Bas, Thao And McElhaney Recommendation: Receive An Informational Report From The City Administrator On The Safe Routes To Schools Program To Ensure Pedestrian Safety Around Schools With A List Of Schools By Council District And Timeframes
11/14/2017
Subject: Safe Routes To School Grant Projects - History And Future Strategy From: Department Of Transportation Recommendation: Receive A Informational Report On The History And The Future Strategy For The Former “Safe Routes To School” Grant And The Present “Active Transportation Program” Grant
5/26/2017
Subject: Safe Routes To School Grant Projects - History And Future Strategy From: Department Of Transportation Recommendation: Receive A Informational Report On The History And The Future Strategy For The Former “Safe Routes To School” Grant And The Present “Active Transportation Program” Grant
School Safety Work News Updates
- Drive Like Your Kids Go to School Here: Oakland Upgrades 200 School Crosswalks
- OakDOT Responds to Tragic Traffic Death at Garfield Elementary School with Immediate Safety Improvements
- New Pedestrian Safety Signals Arrive in Oakland
- The Oakland Safety Patrol Program school yearbook for the 2019-2020 school year