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New York
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Buffalo, New York’s Walk to School Day | New York SRTS State Network
New York is one of ten jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership Network Project. This initiative creates state networks that bring together advocacy groups, government agencies, and other leaders.
New York SRTS Program
Managed by the New York Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), New York’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.
Success Stories and Best Practices
Other Statewide and Regional Programs
New York Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support as partner affiliates of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.
Legislation and Policies
New York SRTS State Network
New York is one of the ten jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership State Network Project. The New York SRTS State Network Organizer works for a sponsoring organization, which is under contract with the SRTS National Partnership.
New York State Network Organizer
Justin S. Booth
Be Active New York State
(716) 851-4052
justin@saferoutespartnership.org
www.BeActiveNYS.org
New York State Network Chair
To be announced.
New York State Network Partners
Alta Planning & Design
American Cancer Society
Be Active New York State
Cornell Cooperative Extension - 4H Youth Development
Cornell Local Roads Program
Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee
National Association for Health & Fitness
New York State Association of Traffic Safety Board
New York State Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Alliance
NY Bicycle Coalition
NYS DOH, Bureau of Injury Prevention
NYS DOH - Healthy Heart Program
NYS DOH - Division of Nutrition
NYS DOS - Land Use
NYS DOT - Bike/Pedestrian
NYS DOT - SRTS
NYS PTA Health & Wellness Chair
NYSED
Parks & Trails New York
The RBA Group
New York SRTS Program
New York’s Safe Routes to School program is managed by the New York Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).
New York DOT SRTS Coordinator
Dwight Cunningham
(518) 485-9959
dcunningham@dot.state.ny.us
https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/divisions/operating/opdm/local-programs-bureau/srts
New York SRTS Federal Funding
New York’s SRTS funding totals $31,641,547 and includes the following annual apportionments:
| 2005 Actual |
2006 Actual |
2007 Actual |
2008 Actual |
2009 Actual |
| $1,000,000 |
$5,114,558 |
$6,894,554 |
$8,280,423 |
$10,322,012 |
Application Guidelines
The NYSDOT SRTS program had a deadline for applications on April 1, 2008. On September 8th 2008, New York State Department of Transportation announced they had awarded $27 million in grants for 70 projects across the state impacting over 181 schools to help students walk and bicycle safely. Meeting federal guidelines, 90% was allocated for infrastructure work and 10% for non-infrastructure.
Governor David A. Paterson stated, “Walking and bicycling are healthy, energy-efficient ways for kids to get to school, and these federally funded grant for infrastructure improvements and education will help children to enjoy healthy school days now and to form active habits that will last a lifetime.”
Under New York State’s SRTS program, the maximum project cost for non-infrastructure projects is $150,000 and for infrastructure projects $400,000. Maximum combined project cost is $550,000.
State Advisory Committee
New York does not have a State Advisory Committee.
Evaluation Methods
Project evaluations are required.
Success Stories and Best Practices
Bronx, New York: Improving Safety through Traffic Calming
A traffic calming and pedestrian safety engineering program began in 1997, with support from the office of the Bronx Borough President and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. The program collected surveys on traffic hazards and worked with NYC DOT to change signage and signal timing. Traffic calming plans have been completed for 38 schools with partial installations at all. NYC DOT took over program in October 2001, expanding it citywide, via RBA Group and Urbitran consultants ($2.5 million contract).
Other Statewide and Regional Programs
New York City DOT's SRTS Program
DOT introduced the Safe Routes to School initiative to focus safety improvements at city schools with the highest accident rates. DOT examined accident histories around the city’s 1,471 elementary and middle schools and established an initial list of 135 priority schools to be considered for traffic safety improvements. Of the 135 schools, 25 were in the Bronx, 46 in Brooklyn, 23 in Manhattan, 33 in Queens and 8 in Staten Island. Each priority school underwent thorough study that included outreach to each principal, meetings with parents and other interested parties, collection and analysis of data concerning traffic conditions and student travel patterns and development, evaluation and approval of comprehensive short-and long-term pedestrian safety improvement measures. To see all the schools they are helping, detailed traffic studies, and more, click here.
New York State Partnership Programs
The New York SRTS State Network is encouraging schools or organizations in New York to participate in activities that advance the health, safety, and environment of our school-aged youth.
With a grant from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Network hosted a statewide webinar on September 17th and 19th, which provided information about how to set up a Walking School Bus program at the local level.
Walk to School Day - October 8, 2008
In addition to the webinars, the New York State SRTS Network has been working diligently with its multi-sector and multi-disciplinary partnership across the state to encourage more schools to participate in walk to school programs. Their are several activities and programs available for any New York school.
Schools that register their walk to school event at www.walktoschool.org will receive prizes for every participating student.
Download the Walk to School Brochure here.
Walking School Bus
The Walking School Bus is another encouragement program the partnership is spearheading in New York State as a way to sustain long term initiatives that will make walking to school safe. Training was offered in Spring 2007 for any schools or school districts that were interested in bringing SRTS programs back to their communities. Additional trainings are scheduled and technical support is available by contacting the partnership.
The presentation from these webinars is available to download as a pdf here:
• Implementing a walking School Bus
Exemplary Community Programs include:
Niskayuna
The Niskayuna pilot WSB program began on May 7th, 2008 for four Wednesdays in May.
47 children signed up with 15 leaders! With a school population of 370 that is roughly 13% of the children. We have established eight morning routes and two afternoon kindergarten routes.
Ithaca
Cycling parents with cycling (and helmeted) neighborhood kids led a "rolling school bus" from their neighborhood to their kids’ schools on May 16th, 2008. This is the bike version of the "walking school bus" concept, where an adult or two picks up kids by foot as they make their way to the local school, walking together in growing numbers along the route. For more info: http://icycle.org/biketowork/?page_id=26
Oriskany
This walking school bus generated local media attention! Click here to view the video and comments.
Writing and Poster Contests
In 2008 schools are encouraged to participate in the annual writing contest, “Why the principal should walk to school with me” and poster contest, "Walking to School Safely". These contests are both fun, project-based learning encouragement /educational programs for schools to try. All winners receive a certificate of achievement and receive a prize package for their entire class, which includes pedometers and t-shirts.
Download the Poster Art Contest Brochure here.
Download the Writing Contest Brochure here.
The New York State Partnership for Walk Our Children to School has developed two tools for communities who are looking to implement a Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS). These include Safe Routes to School Non-infrastructure Professional Resources and Safe Routes to School Non-infrastructure Exemplary Programs. The purpose of the tools is to provide a list of professionals across the state and examples of exemplary programs to assist in the development of sound initiatives under the non-infrastructure side of the SRTS program focusing on encouragement, education and enforcement efforts.
New York State Safety Statistics (updated May 2008 – www.Safeny.com)
Walking and cycling to a neighborhood school was the norm for children a generation ago. Today, even when distance to school is not a barrier, only 63% of students choose this mode. Safety issues are a big concern for parents who consistently site traffic danger as a reason why they will not let their children walk or cycle to school (CDC, 2005). These fears do not come unwarranted in New York State.
According to the New York State Department of Health’s Bureau of Injury Prevention, the leading cause of injury hospitalization and death among 5-9 year olds in New York State is being struck, as pedestrians, by motor vehicles. In addition, children ages 5-19 are most at risk for being hospitalized for a bicycle-related injury.
In 2005 pedestrians represented 23.3% of the total fatalities and 7.5% of the total injuries remaining up from 2004 at 21.9% of the total fatalities and 7% of the total injuries basically remaining status quo since 2002 at 21.6% and 7.1% respectively. What is most alarming about these statistics is that school aged children between 5 and 17 years old represented 25.7% of the total for both categories up from 2004 which was 21.4%.
The 2005 accident data for cyclists shows that this category represented 3.3% of the total fatalities and 2.8% of the total injuries up from the 2004 level of 2.7% of the total fatalities and 2.6% of the total injuries. This data represents a slight spike in percentages but once again remains status quo since 2002 with 2.3% and 2.5% respectively. Again, the age group representative of 5 to 17 year old youths represents an astonishing 61.6% of the total percentage bicyclists both injured and killed.
According to 2004 NYS DMV data pedestrian accidents are more likely to occur crossing with the signal (24.2%) and crossing with no signal or crosswalk (21.1%). The most dangerous time of day for children ages 5-17, occur between Monday through Friday during the hours of school arrival (6am-9am) and dismissal (3pm-6pm) when of course there are more children on our streets. 8.5% of all pedestrian accidents and 5.3% of all bicyclist accidents occur when most children are traveling to school. By comparison, 19% of all pedestrian accidents 22.2% of all bicyclist accidents occur during and after most children have been dismissed from school.
In the meantime, overweight and obesity has become one of the most critical public health threats for New Yorkers. The link between unsafe auto-dependent environments and our lack of opportunities to engage in physical activity has been established. In New York State one in four children are considered overweight, and as a result, for the first time in history, children are predicted to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
New York State Legislature to Consider "Complete Streets"
The New York Bicycling Coalition (NYBC) a member of the New York State Network of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership proudly announces a giant step forward for bicyclists and pedestrians in New York State. As of June 1st, both houses of the Legislature introduced Complete Streets bills for consideration, facilitating efforts to make New York’s roadways safer for drivers, transit users, pedestrians, bicyclists, older individuals, children, and people with disabilities. NYBC was a principal proponent of this legislation.
Assembly Bill A8587, introduced by co-sponsors David F. Gantt (A-133rd Dist), and Jeffrey Dinowitz (A-81st Dist), and Senate Bill S5711, introduced by co-sponsors Martin Malavé Dilan (S-17th Dist) and Ruben Diaz (S-32nd Dist) would, if adopted, enable safe access to public roads for all users by requiring that transportation improvement plans consider the safety, access and mobility needs of all travelers, regardless of age or ability.
A ‘Complete Streets’ policy means sidewalks, crosswalks, curb cuts, bus shelters, bike lanes and many other features shall be routinely weighed on all street projects, and incorporated where warranted. This improves comfort and safety for all roadway users, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider, or shop keeper. In addition, in highly populated areas, ‘Complete Streets’ can provide a sense of place and improve adjacent property values."
NYBC has been a longtime proponent of a "Complete Streets" policy for New York State. In 2008, the American Association of Retired People (AARP), Green Options Buffalo, Transportation Alternatives, and a number of other statewide and local organizations joined with NYBC to advance the Complete Streets initiative. Safety issues are a principal concern for New York residents, and traffic danger is consistently cited as a major reason why individuals will not walk or bicycle to school, work, or other destinations. Complete Streets polices are expected to bring improved safety, enhanced opportunities for physical activity, reduced carbon emissions, enhanced economic vitality and overall better quality of life. In New York State, 40% of all residents don’t possess a driver’s license and over 25% of all households don’t own a motor vehicle, further underscoring the need for this legislation.
To learn more and to get involved please visit the New York Bicycling Coalition’s website: http://www.nybc.net/completestreets/
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