Print page     Email page

FAQ

Safe Routes to School Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is Safe Routes to School?
A: Safe Routes to School is a national (and international) movement to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to bicycle and walk to school. The most successful programs incorporate the five E’s: education, encouragement, engineering, enforcement, and evaluation. The goal of Safe Routes to School is to get more children bicycling and walking to schools on an everyday basis. This improves community and personal health, benefits the environment, increases safety, and helps to decrease traffic congestion around schools.

Q: Why do we need Safe Routes to School?
A: Safe Routes to School is aimed at reversing the decline in children walking and biking to school. In 1969, approximately 50% of children walked or biked to school, and 87% of children living within one mile of school did. Today, fewer than 15% of schoolchildren walk or bike to school. As a result, kids today are less active, less independent, and less healthy. As much as 20 to 30% of morning traffic is generated by parents driving their children to schools, and traffic-related crashes are the top cause of death and major injury for children in the U.S. ages 1 to 17.

Q: What was in the federal transportation bill about Safe Routes to School?
A: The SAFETEA-LU bill, signed by President Bush on August 10, 2005, includes $612 million for a new federal Safe Routes to School program that will be implemented in all 50 states. Funding will be received by each State Department of Transportation (DOT) on a formula basis considering the number of children enrolled in primary and middle schools. Each state will receive a minimum of $1,000,000 each year for Safe Routes to School programs for fiscal years 2005 through 2009.

Q: What can the federal Safe Routes to School funds be spent on?
A: The legislation states that funds will be spent on infrastructure projects and non-infrastructure activities. Infrastructure projects must relate directly to improving safety for kids to bike and walk to school. Infrastructure projects will result in more bike lanes, trails, sidewalks, traffic calming, safer street crossings, speed reduction programs, and bike racks around schools throughout the United States. Non-infrastructure activities include encouragement programs, public awareness campaigns, outreach to the press and community leaders, traffic education and enforcement, educational sessions on bicycle and pedestrian safety, health and the environment, and funding for trainings, volunteers, and managers of Safe Routes to School programs. The legislation states that “not less than 10% and not more than 30% of the amount apportioned to a state” shall be used for non-infrastructure-related activities. This means that each state will have a minimum of $100,000 per year to spend on non-infrastructure activities. Read the details about eligibility on the Federal Highway Administration’s website.

Q: Who can receive funds to implement Safe Routes to School programs with the new money?
A: Federal law specifies that “eligible recipients” for program implementation include “state, local, and regional agencies, including nonprofit organizations, that demonstrate an ability to meet the requirements of this section.”

Q: When will the funds become available?
A: The timing for program implementation will likely vary from state to state, as each State Department of Transportation will be responsible for issuing a “call for applications” and for reviewing, evaluating, and awarding the funds. We encourage local and state advocates to reach out to your state DOT to learn more about their timeline, process, and how interested parties may participate. Click here for details on working with your DOT.

Click here to see which states have established their application guidelines.

Q: How can I get a Safe Routes to School Program started at my school?
A: Now is the perfect time to start planning for a Safe Routes to School program at your local school, or for your whole school district or city. It’s a good idea to create a “Safe Routes Team” that includes parents, students, the principal, teachers, city council members, engineers, law enforcement, bicycle and pedestrian advocates, and other community members. This team can help to identify problem areas for where infrastructure improvements are needed, and the team can also develop a plan for a Safe Routes to School educational program. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has created a primer and PowerPoint presentation about getting started locally. Click here for details.

Q: As a bicycle/pedestrian advocate, how I can get started now to make the most of this program over the next five years?
A: Now is the right time to start planning for the use of these Safe Routes to School funds. Here are some suggestions

• Work with your State Department of Transportation and your Governor:
  Write a letter to the head of your state DOT (and your Governor) letting him or her know that your organization looks forward to working with the State to maximize the benefits of the program in terms of reducing school-related traffic congestion and improving children’s mobility and safety. If there are several bicycle and pedestrian groups in the state, it would be wise to send one letter, co-signed by all of the organizations. Consider asking for a face-to-face meeting. Be sure to ask the DOT for a response, and to make it clear that you’re interested in working with the DOT to make this program a success for your state. Make yourself a resource to the state DOT, and find out if they are going to form a special Advisory Committee for the Safe Routes to School program. Try to get yourself appointed to any sort of Advisory Committee that will make recommendations about or evaluate the use of these funds. Make yourself an expert on Safe Routes to School so that the state DOT will look to you as a valuable resource. Read the partnership’s Guiding Principles for Safe Routes to School, which will help you shape your letter to your DOT.
  
• Advance Planning for the Non-infrastructure Funds:  Since there will be 10 to 30% of “soft money” available in the program for education, encouragement, etc., it’s important to start thinking now about how your state, your county, or your community could best use these funds. See what Marin County, Texas Bicycle Coalition, walking.org and others constitute as best practices and decide what will work best in your home state. With at least $100,000 available each year in every state for such programs, it’s a good idea to start planning now. Think about the answers to questions such as, what makes you best suited to deliver that program for the state? Who are prospective allies or partners? Who at DOT is going to decide on the program awards? When? If your DOT creates a grant program for local jurisdictions, you may wish to contact cities to inform them of the program and pitch yourself as a potential partner (you could, for example, offer to do walkability assessments, conduct outreach, develop collateral materials, lead education workshops in schools, etc., as a subcontractor).
  
• Involve the media: Send a press release to your local paper, and/or hold a press conference at a school announcing the new Safe Routes to School program and what this means for the community and its children. Be sure to get permission from the School’s principal (and to work together with the school) when holding any events on their campus. A local Safe Routes to School program requires leadership from the school administration, so you’ll want them on board from the beginning.

Q: Is Safe Routes to School a new idea?
A: The term “Safe Routes to School” was first coined in Denmark in the 1970s. Since that time, Safe Routes to School has spread internationally. There are active programs in throughout Europe, in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The first Safe Routes to School program in the USA took place in the Bronx in 1997. In the year 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued $50,000 each for Safe Routes to School pilot programs in Marin County, California and Arlington, Massachusetts. Within a year after the launch of the pilot programs, grassroots Safe Routes to School efforts were started throughout the United States. With the new federal program, there will finally be funds to implement Safe Routes to School in all 50 states. Now is the time to take action to make the most of this opportunity.

Q: Where can I find more information about Safe Routes to School and programs throughout the United States?
A: Click here to be connected to the “links” page for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.