SafeWalkr
Open the mapOpen map

SafeWalkr

Press kit

Everything a reporter needs to check before covering SafeWalkr: a copy-pasteable boilerplate, citable findings with sources, downloadable charts and logos, and a direct line to the team.

Boilerplate

SafeWalkr finds the safest walking route to school for Fairfax County Public Schools families — not just the shortest one. Every route is built from the county’s sidewalk inventory, 2024 traffic counts and FCPS crossing-guard posts, layered onto OpenStreetMap’s map of streets and paths, and weighed against what a child’s walk actually costs: time spent in the roadway of a busy road, the number of crossings, whether a guard is posted. It covers all 188 FCPS attendance zones, is free to use, and is available in English and Spanish. SafeWalkr is an independent project; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Fairfax County Public Schools or Fairfax County government.

Key findings

Downloadable charts and maps

Full resolution, direct links. Right-click or use the browser’s save-image option to download.

  • Two walking routes to the same school diverging from one home on a paper street map, the grey shortest route running through a red no-sidewalk stretch and the teal safest route around it.

    Two routes from the same home: shortest through a no-sidewalk stretch, safest around it.

    PNG · 1200×630Download

  • A two-panel ledger: the price, 25 extra seconds for the typical home whose routes differ; what it buys, roadway walking along busy roads falling from 81 kilometres to 12, an 86 percent cut.

    The price (extra seconds) and what it buys (roadway walking avoided), district-wide.

    SVG · 1140×620Download

  • Fourteen small maps, one per walk zone, with a dot for every one of the 9,731 homes: teal where the safest route differs from the shortest, grey where they are the same.

    All 14 walk zones, every home dotted by whether the safest route changes.

    SVG · 1200×850Download

  • A large count of 9,731 measured walks beside a ranked bar chart of sidewalk coverage for the 14 walk zones, with Chesterbrook Elementary lowest at 46 percent.

    Sidewalk coverage ranked across all 14 walk zones, from 46.1% to 99.9%.

    PNG · 1200×630Download

  • The SafeWalkr map application. A route runs from a home on Southampton Drive to Kings Park Elementary, teal along calm sidewalked streets and purple beside the busier road, with each crossing marked.

    The SafeWalkr app: a real route to Kings Park Elementary, with crossings and a guard post marked.

    JPG · 1448×849Download

Logo

Facts at a glance

CoverageEvery FCPS attendance zone: 188 zones, 138 elementary, 26 middle, 24 high
Data sourcesFairfax County sidewalk inventory, 2024 county traffic counts, FCPS crossing-guard posts, OpenStreetMap
PriceFree
LanguagesEnglish and Spanish
StatusIndependent project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Fairfax County Public Schools or Fairfax County government.

Contact

info@safewalkr.comInterviews and custom data cuts for stories are available on request.

Usage note

Charts and screenshots on this page may be republished with credit and a link to safewalkr.com.