The Teen Roadway Safety Advocates (TeenRSA) Program was started as a way to engage youth in improving road safety near their schools and in their communities. The program is modeled after a process that has been used for years around the world to systematically look at roadway safety issues from a multi-disciplinary approach. In Road Safety Audits, teams are formed to look at existing or potential roadway safety problems with a “fresh set of eyes,” often tapping into the personal knowledge of members of the community who may not have roadway or transportation expertise.

In the TeenRSA Program, students provide those eyes to look at the roadways with which they are most familiar, including the roads, bike paths, sidewalks, transit stops, and parking lots in and around their schools and communities. Working with school and transportation advisors, these youth teams are challenged to take a leadership role in learning about these issues, documenting what they find, and advocating for improvements.