Software to help find safe school routes

Utah schools have a new tool to use when drafting state-required maps that list the safest routes for students to walk or bike to school.

On Thursday, the Utah Department of Transportation introduced a software program that allows a school to design a computerized "safe route" map with just a few clicks of a computer mouse.

Each year, Utah schools are required to update plans listing the safest routes for students to walk to school. Verneita Hunt, principal of Crestview Elementary in Salt Lake City, said she and a team of community volunteers in the past created their maps with pencil and paper. The new software, which she helped test, "is a time-saver and much more concise," she said.

The software is know as the "Student Neighborhood Access Program," or SNAP. School leaders, parents or community council members can download it for free at: www.udot.utah.gov/snap.