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Massachusetts

Massachusetts SRTS Program
Managed by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation (EOT), Massachusetts’s federally funded Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is the source for state coordinator contact details, federal SRTS funding amounts, SRTS applications and guidelines, and state SRTS program information.

Massachusetts DOT SRTS Coordinator
Davida Eisenberg
(617) 892-6096
davida.eisenberg@eot.state.ma.us
http://www.commute.com/default.asp?pgid=massrides/srsMain&sid=MRlevel2

Click on any of the menu items below for more information.
Massachusetts SRTS Federal Funding
Application Guidelines
State Advisory Committee
State Outreach Programs
Evaluation
Massachusetts Partner Affiliates

Massachusetts SRTS Federal Funding
Massachusetts’s SRTS funding totals $11,284,446 and includes the following annual apportionments:

Application Guidelines
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program, housed within MassRIDES, educates parents and students on the value of walking and bicycling for school travel. Schools that collaborate with MassRIDES on education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation activities become eligible for infrastructure projects specifically targeted to enhancing safe access to schools.

Schools complete the participation request available on the MassRIDES website to signal their interest. The request form documents support from school principals and designates schools’ anticipated level of participation (bronze, silver or gold).

Massachusetts is engaging an on-call team of school engineers, planners, and bicycle/pedestrian experts to plan, design, and construct targeted infrastructure improvements enhancing access to the Commonwealth’s schools serving students in grades K-8. The request process for infrastructure improvements is still under development.  The Massachusetts Safe Routes to School infrastructure component will make operational and physical improvements to the roads and walkways surrounding schools. Safety enhancements may include speed reduction improvements, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on- or off-street bicycle facilities providing school access, secure bicycle parking and sidewalk improvements. Schools collaborating with MassRIDES become eligible for infrastructure improvements.  The hope is that this consolidated approach will result in more money invested in actual improvements, rather than grant administration. 

State Advisory Committee
Massachusetts' Advisory Committee was formed in November 2006. The committee meets four times a year to provide guidance on the development of the Commonwealth’s Safe Routes to School initiatives. Organizations collaborating on Safe Routes activities and serving on the advisory committee include state agencies (Department of Education, Department of Public Health, Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau), school stakeholders (principals, teachers, school nurses, and parents), and community leaders (school safety officers). There is an official charter.

State Outreach Programs
MassRIDES offers schools technical assistance in designing, implementing, marketing, and evaluating initiatives tailored to each school’s needs and priorities. Participating schools receive no-cost Safe Routes to School educational materials targeted to students, parents, and community leaders. Both pedestrian and bicycle safety training are available to partner schools.

The Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program proactively recruits schools from diverse socio-economic communities, in urban/suburban/rural environments statewide. 

Evaluation
Massachusetts requires that schools conduct before and after student and parent tallies provided by the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

Massachusetts Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support for the Safe Routes to School movement. Massachusetts Partner Affiliates.