ADVOCACY
Rethinking School Safety
How AMA is developing new ways to support schools as traffic patterns evolve.
By Allison Bench
AMA’s School Zone Safety programs help keep students safe in the increasingly complex traffic environment outside of schools. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMA
School mornings don’t look the way they used to. Where once students walked or biked to school, now many are dropped off in vehicles. This adds to school zone congestion — already complicated by larger enrolments and increasing digital distractions for both drivers and pedestrians. As a result, keeping students safe has become more complex than ever.
“Ten years ago, a school might have had one major crossing,” says Carrie Herrick-Fitzgerald, AMA’s Childhood Safety program manager. “Today, some schools are managing long vehicle queues, multiple access points and hundreds of students arriving within a very short window. The traffic environment is fundamentally different.”
At the same time, overall provincial participation in AMA’s School Safety Patrol™ Program declined through the pandemic.
Rather than simply trying to increase the number of schools involved, AMA began asking a broader question: What should school safety look like in today’s traffic environment?
As a result, AMA began running several new programs in 2025 and 2026. These School Zone Safety programs are designed to support larger schools or those with complex traffic situations that may no longer fit the standard patroller program — the one people are most familiar with, where students are posted at nearby crosswalks.
Signs, lights and reflective vests help patrollers keep students safe at crosswalks. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF AMA
The School Zone Safety programs include:
Arrivals & Departures Patrol
Structured support for school drop-off and pick-up areas, intended to improve traffic flow and help younger students move safely through busy zones.
Crossing Guides Program
Provides guidance to schools on how to use adult volunteers/ staff at their busiest crossings.
Drive Lane Patrol Student patrollers help guide safe crossings and pedestrian movement within school drive lanes.
Traffic Light Crossing Patrol
Additional patrol support at traffic-light-controlled intersections and multi-lane crossings.
“School principals and teachers are often the ones who are tasked with identifying the problems and trying to find the solutions. We connected with them to find out if there were additional ways to support them and their students.”
AMA is testing adult Crossing Guides at busy crossings. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF AMA
The programs were designed after looking at the issue from multiple angles: AMA’s experience with School Safety Patrol™, feedback directly from schools, and approaches being tested in other jurisdictions. AMA also met directly with local schools to discuss what was and wasn’t working for them.
“School principals and teachers are often the ones who are tasked with identifying the problems and trying to find the solutions,” says Herrick-Fitzgerald. “We connected with them to find out if there were additional ways to support them and their students.” In many cases, the issue wasn’t a lack of interest. It was that larger student populations, busy drop-off lanes and increasing traffic volumes meant some schools no longer felt the traditional patrol model reflected their needs. “The complexity and volumes of traffic might have been too much,” says Herrick-Fitzgerald, “so we started looking at how we could continue supporting safe student travel in a way that worked for those schools.” AMA’s School Safety Patrol™ has evolved many times throughout its nearly 90-year history, responding to the changing needs of schools, students and communities. “We’re moving with the times and making sure the program remains relevant and able to adapt,” says Herrick-Fitzgerald. AMA is also expanding its advocacy efforts in school zones — including studying driving behaviours and instances of near misses. As more children are driven to school, AMA is working to adapt to traffic realities while continuing to support safe active transportation. Whether students are walking, biking, taking the bus or arriving by private vehicle, the goal remains the same: making sure they get to and from school safely. AMA
What Near Misses Can Tell Us
A near miss only lasts a moment, but it can help reveal where a serious collision could happen next. A recent multi-city AMA and CAA study found that one in every 770 pedestrian crossings and one in every 500 cyclist crossings involved a critical or high-risk event. By identifying where these moments happen, near-miss data can help advocates and communities understand where safety improvements are most needed. School zones are a natural place to apply this technology. During arrival and dismissal times, many students, parents and vehicles interact with one another over a short period of time. So AMA and CAA expanded the study this year, focusing solely on near misses in school zones. Twelve school zones across Edmonton and Calgary were monitored. Each location was selected to represent a large range of traffic situations — for example, marked residential crosswalks, multi-lane roads with flashing beacons and roundabouts. “We don’t want to wait until someone is injured to understand where the problems are,” says Hannah Hamilton, AMA’s Safe Communities program manager. “Being able to see where and when near misses are happening in school zones gives us a real look at the situations students face every day.” The research will help pinpoint where the risks are happening, but the bottom line is that improving school zone safety still comes down to your everyday choices. Slowing down and staying alert can make the difference between a close call and a collision.
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What Near Misses Can Tell Us
A near miss only lasts a moment, but it can help reveal where a serious collision could happen next. A recent multi-city AMA and CAA study found that one in every 770 pedestrian crossings and one in every 500 cyclist crossings involved a critical or high-risk event. By identifying where these moments happen, near-miss data can help advocates and communities understand where safety improvements are most needed. School zones are a natural place to apply this technology. During arrival and dismissal times, many students, parents and vehicles interact with one another over a short period of time. So AMA and CAA expanded the study this year, focusing solely on near misses in school zones. Twelve school zones across Edmonton and Calgary were monitored. Each location was selected to represent a large range of traffic situations — for example, marked residential crosswalks, multi-lane roads with flashing beacons and roundabouts. “We don’t want to wait until someone is injured to understand where the problems are,” says Hannah Hamilton, AMA’s Safe Communities program manager. “Being able to see where and when near misses are happening in school zones gives us a real look at the situations students face every day.” The research will help pinpoint where the risks are happening, but the bottom line is that improving school zone safety still comes down to your everyday choices. Slowing down and staying alert can make the difference between a close call and a collision.
