Tools · Analysis & Visualizations

Safe Routes to School Crash Map Viewer

Identify bicycle and pedestrian crashes near California schools, explore contributing factors, and export data for safety planning.

Reading time: 6 minutes

Overview

The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Crash Map Viewer highlights pedestrian and bicycle collisions within walking or biking distance of a selected school. Data comes from the SWITRS crash database and school locations from the California Department of Education Public Schools and Districts Data Files. Because school coordinates originate with external sources, a small number of campuses may appear slightly offset; you can always search for a custom address instead.

Launch the viewer from the Analysis & Visualizations menu or directly at The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Crash Map Viewer.

Select a school or location

  1. Choose a county and city to load the list of available schools.
  2. Select a school from the dropdown or switch to the Address tab to enter any street address.
  3. The map centers on your selection and outlines the 0.25- and 0.50-mile buffers used for summary statistics.
Safe Routes to School viewer location selector
Select a school or type an address to load nearby crashes.

Tip

If a school is missing, check the adjacent city or unincorporated county list. School boundaries occasionally span multiple jurisdictions.

Filter crashes

Use the filter panel to narrow the set of crashes displayed on the map, in the summary cards, and in the crash list.

  • Mode: Focus on pedestrian, bicycle, or combined crashes.
  • Severity: Toggle among Fatal, Severe Injury, Other Visible Injury, and Complaint of Pain.
  • Years: Restrict the analysis to a specific range of SWITRS years.
Filter controls for Safe Routes to School viewer
Filters update the map, summary statistics, and crash list immediately.
Safe Routes to School map with buffered area
Use the map legend to interpret severity colors and involvement icons.

Map symbols

Colors represent severity while icon shapes indicate whether the crash involved bicyclists, pedestrians, or both.

Symbol key for Safe Routes to School crash map
Crash severity Crash involvement
Bicycle Pedestrian Both
Fatal Fatal bicycle crash symbol Fatal pedestrian crash symbol Fatal bicycle and pedestrian crash symbol
Injury – Severe Severe injury bicycle crash symbol Severe injury pedestrian crash symbol Severe injury bicycle and pedestrian crash symbol
Injury – Other visible Other visible injury bicycle crash symbol Other visible injury pedestrian crash symbol Other visible injury bicycle and pedestrian crash symbol
Injury – Complaint of pain Complaint of pain bicycle crash symbol Complaint of pain pedestrian crash symbol Complaint of pain bicycle and pedestrian crash symbol

Select any icon on the map to open a pop-up with crash attributes and a link to an interactive Google Street View profile.

Review results & exports

Summary statistics

Summary statistics cards for Safe Routes to School viewer
Counts update automatically as you adjust filters or switch between the quarter-mile and half-mile buffers.

Use the summary cards to compare crash totals within 0.25 and 0.50 miles of the selected school. The cards break down totals by severity and travel mode.

Crash list

Crash list table in Safe Routes to School viewer
The crash list shows street names, offsets, and case IDs. Click a row to highlight the corresponding map symbol.

The list includes primary and secondary streets, offset distance, direction, and case ID. Sort by any column to prioritize locations for site visits.

Print & download

  • Print: Generates a report with the map view, summary statistics, and crash list. Print to PDF for digital sharing.
  • Download: Exports the current crash list to CSV for analysis in spreadsheet or GIS tools. Consult the SWITRS codebook for field descriptions.

Street View reminder

Street View opens in a new browser tab. Check the imagery date to understand when the area was captured—it may differ from the crash year.

Frequently asked question

Why don’t I see every school on the map?

School locations originate from the California Department of Education database. Some campuses lacked coordinates or required manual correction, so a small number may fall just outside the expected boundary. If a school is missing, check nearby jurisdictions or search by address. Let us know about significant discrepancies at tims_info@berkeley.edu.