Austin, TX - School Routes Aren't the Coolest

Extreme heat affects hundreds of millions of Americans every year — and Austin is no exception. Did you know Austin saw 80 days above 100°F in 2023?1

Extreme heat hits hardest for young people, seniors and those with health conditions or limited resources.

And you don't need a record-breaking heat wave for your daily routine at school to feel uncomfortably hot.

That's where shade from trees and structures comes in. Shade makes cities cooler and more livable.

Shade can reduce heat burden — the total heat we experience from the air, humidity, radiation, and more — by up to 50%.2

UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation

To understand how shade affects students across Austin, we analyzed shade on every sidewalk in the city.

So how do we measure shade?

The key to understanding shade is height. The taller the tree or structure, the more shade it casts.

To measure height, we use LIDAR, a remote sensing technology. It works by bouncing lasers off surfaces like the tops of trees or buildings to capture their 3D shape. LIDAR can be deployed from satellites, drones, or even airplanes!

Using LIDAR surface heights, we mapped everything above the ground. Microsoft Building Footprints helped us identify which features were buildings. Most remaining features tall enough to provide shade (>1.3 meters) are trees, but a small fraction are shade structures that, like trees, a person can shelter under.

Shade changes over the course of a day as the sun rises and sets. We measure shade on June 21, the longest day of the year, at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m..

So, what can all this data tell us? In Austin, average shade ranges from 10% to nearly 35% over the course of the day.

Trees provide 36 times more shade than buildings at midday and over twice as much when the sun is lowest. Why? There are simply more trees offering shade in Austin, and you can shelter directly under a tree for instant cooling!

45th Street and Red River Street, Austin TX.

Throughout the day, Austin sidewalks get on average 30-60% shade. That means you're in the sun at least half the time — and we all know those sunny stretches can feel extra hot!

Where does sidewalk shade come from? We found that throughout the day, most sidewalk shade comes from trees. Buildings only contribute a little shade early in the morning and late in the evening.

Looking at this chart, how much shade is there, on average, when you commute to school?

The amount of shade you get depends on where you are. Some school zones are shadier than others — does that feel fair?

For example, the west side of Austin has more shade than the east side — even at noon, the hottest time of day — because it has more trees.

Toggle the map for different times of day. Hover for more information about a neighborhood. How do the neighborhoods near your school stack up?

Shade cover can be patchy at the street level, even when an area has a lot of overall shade.

At Kealing Middle School in Central East Austin, for example, we mapped two 10-minute walking routes from the same residence.

Route 1 offers very little shade until the last block. On Route 2, you'll stay cooler if you stick to the shadier side of the road. But even Route 2 has stretches of full sun.

Which route would you pick?

We mapped shade for every sidewalk in the city so you can map your active routes.

First, locate your school. Then, zoom in and pan to find the shadiest sidewalks on your route.

If you don't think your route is shady enough, the good news is we can make school routes cooler. One of the best ways to increase shade is to work with local urban foresters to plant and grow trees.

Trees not only cast shade, but they also cool the air when water evaporates from their leaves. And that's not all — research shows that trees are great for our mental health, too!

Exposition Boulevard, Austin TX.

Want to help make your school routes safer? Here are several ideas to get started!

Raise Awareness: Start the conversation with your classmates, parents, teachers and school administrators. Create posters, presentations, or social media campaigns to show how shade — or the lack of it — affects your classmates' daily walks or bike rides.
Map Hotspots: Work with classmates to map the routes students take to school. Identify areas where shade is missing.
Advocate for Change: Write letters or petitions to local leaders or attend community meetings. Ask for more investments in urban forestry; shaded, safe routes to school; and good streetscape design that includes adequate space for trees to grow and thrive.
Volunteer for Tree Planting: Join local environmental groups like TreeFolks or Austin Parks Foundation to participate in tree planting to add more greenery around your neighborhood, at your school and in local public spaces.
Get Neighbors Involved: Encourage families and community members to plant trees in their front yards that can provide shade for nearby sidewalks. Austin's Urban Forestry Program helps residents choose the right tree and make sure it's planted in the right place to thrive.
Design a Project: Work with Austin's Neighborhood Partnering Program to fund, develop and carry out a project on city property. Work with parent-teacher groups and academic institutions to apply for an Urban Forest Grant for projects like school plantings.
Engage in School Safety and Sustainability: Explore opportunities available through Austin's Safe Routes to School Program to help kids walk, bike, and roll to school safely. Follow the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC) to support sustainability at school."

Helpful Resources on Heat: Urban Heat and Cool Design Facts, Protecting Students from Heat Outdoors, The Problem with Hot Schoolyards, Communicating Heat Risk

Now, shade data is available through the Austin Tree Equity Score Analyzer. Examine shade access across Austin for all types of areas like parks, urban trails, bus stops, and more.

Visit Tree Equity Score Analyzer.
- Log in or create a free account.
Search for an address or point of interest.
- Zoom in to view property-level shade.
- Open the Layers list to view shade estimates and visualize trees and shade on the map.
Visualize and plan potential projects.
- Identify where trees or engineered shade structures could make the biggest impact.

Adding shade where you live doesn't just help you — it helps create healthier, safer and more livable neighborhoods for all your neighbors.

So, the next time you take a walk, take a look around. Where do you see shade? Where is it missing? What could you do to help?

Bike to Work Day, 2022, Austin TX.