April 1, 2022 Data System Transition Q & A

How do I download my existing data from the Data System?

Current Data System users can directly download all of their data with the following steps:

1. Hovering over "My Tallies" and selecting "View Existing Tally." In the resulting Tally table, click on the "Export Data" link (the right-most column in the table). This will automatically export a csv file (which can be saved as an Excel file if that is preferable) of each school's Student Travel Tally data for the corresponding month and year (e.g., May 2021).

2. To download schools' Parent Survey data, repeat step one above, but instead hover over "My Surveys" and select "View Existing Survey." 

What's the value of the Data System?

The database supports a standardized set of travel information using two National Center for Safe Routes to School‐developed instruments: a Student Travel Tally Form and a Parent Survey. As of March 31, 2022, the Data System contains 466,579 travel tallies and 1,710,244 parent surveys representing 18,328 U.S. schools. Over the past 15 years, the travel data has benefited schools and local and State SRTS programs in planning, evaluation, and performance management. It has also informed student travel research both to help locate areas of concentrated SRTS activity and to provide student travel numbers for broader evaluations.

For example, recent publications that relied on Data System data include:

Ross, A., Godwyll, J., & Adams, M. (2020). The moderating effect of distance on features of the built environment and active school transport. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 7856. doi:10.3390/ijerph17217856.

Szuflita, L., LaJeunesse, S., & Pullen-Seufert, N. (2020). What makes a "biking" school? How some schools have pulled ahead in cycling rates. Chapel Hill, NC. Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.

Voulgaris, C., Jimenez, J., Alexander, S., Lee, K., Hosseinzade, R., & Pande, A. (2020). Measuring success for Safe Routes to School programs. Mineta Transportation Institute. Project No. 1821. DOI:10.31979/mti.2020.182. Retrieved from https://transweb.sjsu.edu/sites/default/files/1821-Pande-Measuring-Success-Safe-Routes-School.pdf.

Why is the Data System closing?

It's not closed exactly. Funding from the Federal Highway Administration has ended, which resulted in the Data System ending its regular level of service.  In the first quarter of 2022, we packaged and transferred data to State SRTS contacts and communicated with all Data System users from the past five years to prepare. We continue to seek funding, and, out of a commitment to users and the data we have been entrusted with, the UNC Highway Safety Research Center (home of the National Center for Safe Routes to School) has agreed to offer an additional period (until August 30, 2022) for existing users to use the system and download their data.