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South Carolina
South Carolina SRTS Program
Managed by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), South Carolina’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.
South Carolina DOT SRTS Coordinator
Rodney Oldham, CHES
(803) 737-4073
scsaferoutes@scdot.org
http://www.scdot.org/community/saferoutes.shtml
Click on any of the menu items below for more information:
South Carolina SRTS Federal Funding
Application Guidelines
State Advisory Committee
State Outreach Programs
Evaluation Methods
Success Stories
South Carolina Partner Affiliates
Legislation and Policies
South Carolina SRTS Federal Funding
South Carolina’s SRTS funding from FY2005-2009* totals $8,152,897 and includes the following annual apportionments:
|
2005 Actual |
2006 Actual |
2007 Actual |
2008 Actual |
2009 Actual |
|
$1,000,000 |
$1,186,047 |
$1,584,924 |
$1,948,124 |
$2,433,802 |
* Funding for SRTS is being continued into FY2010 at FY2009 levels.
Application Guidelines
South Carolina’s first round of applications were due June 29, 2007, and second round funding cycle applications were due June 13, 2008. The 2009 Application for Funding Cycle has been postponed until further notice while the currently funded programs implement plans. Please check their website often for updates.
Currently, 25 programs have been selected for funding. SC DOT and SRTS partners aid and guide schools as the local SRTS Committee determines the best use of the limited funding for implementing projects that address all five E’s and work to develop a comprehensive SRTS plan.
State Advisory Committee
South Carolina has an internal steering committee that includes SC DOT representatives from the safety office, preconstruction offices, planning and environment, bike and pedestrian accommodations, traffic engineering, administration, along with an advisory council from FHWA. The committee meets as needed. Funded programs are selected by a committee made up of representatives of SCDOT, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, SC Department of Public Safety, and the SC Department of Education.
State Outreach Programs
South Carolina’s SRTS program is unique in the comprehensive and proactive partnership they have developed with the South Carolina Eat Smart Move More Coalition (formerly the Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (SCCPPA).) With funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Eat Smart Move More sponsors and conducts “SRTS Trainers” and an innovative workshop series.
The Trainers represent public health, education, and planning stakeholders and conduct modified versions of the SRTS National Course. There is a preliminary workshop that educates the public about the SRTS program and prepares them for the application process. After grant awards are made, a second series of workshops are conducted to help selected schools plan the best use of the SRTS funds that are awarded. At that time, comprehensive SRTS plans are developed for the selected schools with the guidance of SRTS Trainers, the local SRTS Committee, and SC DOT.
SCDOT SRTS Program and Eat Smart Move More also provide schools that register for International Walk to School Day with materials and incentive items to assist the registered schools with their Walk to School events. Materials are sent out on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Evaluation Methods
Selected schools are required to submit baseline data and data after the project or activity is implemented. The required data is gathered using the National Center for Safe Routes to School Student Arrival and Departure Talley Sheet and Parent Survey.
Success Stories
Spartanburg, SC - Pine Street Elementary School - November 2009
The successes of Pine Street Elementary School’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program are being touted throughout the Palmetto state. To develop its comprehensive SRTS program, Pine Street Elementary built on eight years of successful Walk to School Day events and minor engineering improvements, along with federal funding and the support of a number of public and private partners. The school’s most successful program to date is W3 (Walking & Wheeling Wednesday). Despite an extremely rainy spring, more than 150 students participated each week in the first season of W3. Each Wednesday, students were encouraged to walk or bicycle from home or from a park-and-walk site. Every fourth week of participation, a student received an award.
Contact:
Laura Ringo, Executive Director
Partners for Active Living
Phone: 864.598.9638
Email: LRingo@active-living.org
Website: www.active-living.org
South Carolina Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support for the Safe Routes to School movement.
Legislation and Policies
The South Carolina “Safe Routes to School Act” (A307, R28, H4740)
The South Carolina Safe Routes to School Act amends the code of laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding section 59-17-150 so as to provide that municipal and county governing bodies shall work with school districts located in their jurisdictions to identify barriers and hazards to children walking or bicycling to and from school, to provide that the municipalities, counties, and districts may develop a plan for the funding of improvements designed to reduce the barriers and hazards identified, to provide that any school district may form a coordinating committee and any school may form a Safe Routes to School team to perform specific functions in regard to safe pedestrian and bicycle routes to school, and to provide that the first Wednesday of October each year is designated as “walk or bicycle with your child to school day” in each school district of this state.
School Siting
South Carolina revoked acreage laws that prevented new schools from being built within populated areas. SC DOT does have traffic engineers who provide recommendations for new schools and schools being improved or expanded.
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