SAFETEA-LU:
The
federal Safe Routes to School program
The federal Safe Routes to School program
was created by
Section 1404 of the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity
Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU),
which was signed into public law (P.L.
109-59) on August, 10 2005.
As a result of this legislation, every state
now has dedicated dollars to help with
infrastructure improvements (e.g. new
sidewalks and traffic calming projects) and
noninfrastructure activities to encourage
and enable students to walk and bicycle to
school.
The federal Safe Routes to School Program is
administered by the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety. Full
program guidance is available on the FHWA
website at
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov. However,
listed below are some of the key elements of
the legislation and portions of the guidance
issued by FHWA or the Michigan Department of
Transportation.
u
Click to visit the
grant application download page.
Additional information about
the federal Safe Routes to School program:
Statutory Purposes
The statutory purposes of the federal Safe
Routes to School program are:
-
To enable and encourage all children to
walk and bike to school.
-
To make bicycling and walking to school
safer and more appealing alternative
modes of transportation.
-
To develop projects
and encourage activities that will
improve student health and safety while
reducing traffic, fuel consumption, and
air pollution in the vicinity of
schools.
Eligible Projects and Programs
Listed below are examples of infrastructure
and noninfrastructure projects and programs
that are eligible for federal Safe Routes to
School funding:
-
Sidewalks
-
Traffic calming and
speed reduction
-
Pedestrian and
bicycle crossing improvements
-
On-street and
off-street bicycle facilities
-
Off-street
pedestrian facilities
-
Traffic diversion
improvements in the vicinity of schools
-
Activities to
encourage walking and bicycling to
school
-
Public awareness
campaign, community outreach
-
Traffic enforcement
operations in the vicinity of schools
-
Traffic education
-
Student training
sessions (bicycle and pedestrian safety)
-
Funding for
training volunteers and managers of Safe
Routes to School programs
Additional actions may be eligible if they
fit within the constraints identified in the
legislation and can be shown to contribute
to the achievement of program purposes and
desired outcomes.
For questions regarding the eligibility of
projects not included on the above list,
contact the MDOT Safe Routes to School
Coordinator at (517) 335-2636.
Other Program Parameters
-
The federal Safe
Routes to School program is for
elementary and middle school students in
grades K-8. A school must have at least
one grade in the K-8 range in order to
apply for funding.
-
Eligible recipients
include state, local and regional
agencies, including nonprofit
organizations.
-
Funding is 100
percent federal; no local match is
required.
-
Infrastructure
projects must be constructed within a
2-mile radius of the school.
Funding Prerequisite
As a prerequisite for funding eligibility,
schools must complete a school-based
planning process culminating in the creation
of a Safe Routes to School Action Plan. This
process—described in the SR2S
Handbook—involves:
-
Forming a
multidisciplinary team of local
stakeholders (SR2S Team module);
-
Collecting baseline
data on parent and student behaviors and
attitudes towards walking and bicycling
(Behaviors and Attitudes module);
-
Conducting
environmental audits of the school
grounds and the surrounding
neighborhoods/ areas (Safe Routes
module);
-
Completing a SR2S
Action Plan that addresses the issues
identified through the survey process or
through the environmental audits (Making
Change module).
Funding Application and EGrAMS
Beginning in 2008, schools interested in
submitting a Safe Routes to School funding
application will be able to do so online via
Michigan's Electronic Grants Administration
and Management System (EGrAMS). The EGrAMS
website is
www.egrams-mi.com/mdot.
Information on Other Funding Sources
Additional funding information can be found
in Appendix F
of Michigan's Safe Routes to School
Handbook. Visit the
Handbook
page to download the Handbook in
its entirety.