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Florida

Florida SRTS State Network
Florida is one of twenty jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership Network Project. This initiative creates state networks that bring together advocacy groups, government agencies, and other leaders.

Florida SRTS Program
Managed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida’s federally funded Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is the source for state and District 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

Florida 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

Florida SRTS State Network
Florida is one of the twenty jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership State Network Project. The SRTS State Network Organizer works for their sponsoring organization, which is under contract with the SRTS National Partnership.

Florida State Network Organizer
Heather Murphy
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)
(850) 228-0028
florida@saferoutespartnership.org
www.chronicdisease.org

Florida State Network Partners
1000 Friends of Florida 
Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Bicycle/Pedestrian Advocates of Sarasota
Bike Walk Lee
Broward County MPO
Florida Bicycle Association  
Florida Department of Community Affairs – Division of Community Planning
Florida Department of Education – Office of Healthy Schools
Florida Department of Education – Office of Educational Facilities
Florida Department of Education – School Transportation Management
Florida Department of Environmental Protection – Office of Greenways and Trails
Florida Department of Health – Division of Environmental Health
Florida Department of Health – Division of Family Health Services, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Florida Department of Health – Office of Injury Prevention
Florida Department of Transportation – Roadway Design Office
Florida Department of Transportation – State Safety Office
Florida Division of Federal Highway Administration
Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Urban and Regional Planning
Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program
Green Mobility Network
Healthy Jacksonville
Health Masters Club, Inc.
Hoke Design, Inc.
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Naples Pathways Coalition
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors – ACHIEVE Initiative
Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation
Pinellas County Health Department, Office of Health Promotion and School Health
Rails to Trails Conservancy, Florida
Sarasota County Health Department, Community Health Improvement Partnership
Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
University of Florida, Department of Urban and Regional Planning
University of Florida, Florida Transportation Technology Transfer (T2) Center
University of Miami School of Medicine, WalkSafe and BikeSafe Programs
Volusia County Health Department, Office of Chronic Disease Prevention and Wellness
Volusia County Schools
Winter Park Health Foundation

Florida SRTS Program
Managed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida’s federally funded Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is the source for state and District contact details, federal SRTS funding amounts, SRTS applications and guidelines, and state SRTS program information.

Florida DOT SRTS Coordinator
Pat Pieratte
(850) 245-1529
pat.pieratte@dot.state.fl.us
www.srtsfl.org  or www.dot.state.fl.us/Safety/SRTS_files/SRTS.shtm

Click on any of the menu items below for more information.
Florida SRTS Federal Funding
Application Guidelines
State Advisory Committee
State Outreach Programs
Evaluation Methods
Success Stories and Best Practices
Other Statewide and Regional Programs
Florida Partner Affiliates
Legislation and Policies

Florida SRTS Federal Funding
Florida’s SRTS funding from FY2005-2009* totals $29,116,392 and includes the following annual apportionments:

2005 Actual	2006 Actual	2007 Actual	2008 Actual	2009 Actual
$1,000,000	$4,494,278	$6,133,717	$7,763,038	$9,725,359

* Funding for SRTS is being continued into FY2010 at FY2009 levels.

Application Guidelines
Florida’s SRTS program is unlike any other in that the first call for applications solicited projects for all five years’ worth of federal funding (2005-2009). The seven Florida DOT Districts received the applications, selected projects, got them approved by the State SRTS Coordinator, and entered them into the five-year Work Program, to be funded as federal funds were released. Applicants for Infrastructure projects are now required to form school-based SRTS Committees which meet at least three times to plan a comprehensive program including all 5 E’s. Here is a recap of the Calls for Applications to date:

Florida’s first call for applications closed on June 1, 2007. Awards were announced by the Districts in the fall of 2007, and some local implementation began as early as November 2007.

Florida issued its second call for infrastructure applications from November 30, 2007 to April 30, 2008, for uncommitted funds anticipated through FY 2013.

Florida’s third call for infrastructure applications ran from November 30, 2008 to April 30, 2009, for anticipated funding through FY 2014.

Florida’s fourth call for infrastructure applications ran from November 30, 2009 to April 30, 2010, for anticipated funding through FY 2015. Florida plans to continue issuing annual calls for infrastructure applications each fall, and selecting projects subject to renewal of the federal funding.

The seven District Safety Engineers oversee the SRTS programs and handle the infrastructure projects. Each district forms an application review team made up of DOT employees to review and rank the infrastructure applications received, using review criteria established by the state Safe Routes to School Coordinator. The proposed projects are then sent to the state Safe Routes to School Coordinator for a final review before final changes are made, the projects are placed in the Work Program, and the implementation steps are begun.

Each District Safety Engineer works with either the District Community Traffic Safety Team Coordinator or the District Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator on non-infrastructure programs. Each District has the choice to solicit new program ideas, work with existing programs to include SRTS programs, plan District-wide programs, or do a combination of these approaches. Florida’s non-infrastructure programs can now be applied for at any time, as long as the District has uncommitted funds.

For more information, please see Florida’s SRTS program. 

State Advisory Committee
As a large, decentralized agency, FDOT does not have an official Advisory Committee. The State SRTS Coordinator meets as needed with SRTS personnel from the seven districts to discuss all aspects of the SRTS program. The SRTS Coordinator and District personnel also stay in touch by e-mail, phone and meetings in the Districts, and work together on any proposed modifications to the state program. The new SRTS Network may also make recommendations to improve Florida’s SRTS program.

State Outreach Programs
Florida’s SRTS Coordinator works with many statewide agencies and groups that have goals similar to those of the SRTS program. This collaboration includes presentations on the SRTS program at statewide conferences and meetings. The Coordinator serves on the Safe Kids Advisory Council. She also works with the Department of Education to inform each school district about the SRTS program and application opportunities, and to send out relevant materials purchased with statewide SRTS funds, such as the Walk Smart and Bike Smart interactive CDs for grades K-3.

At the District level, the SRTS contacts disseminate information on SRTS through meetings, e-mail and other communications, to make sure that potential applicants and sponsors know about the SRTS program and application opportunities and processes.

The State SRTS Coordinator and State Safety Engineer were trained in September 2007 to present the SRTS National Course at schools upon request, and recently presented the first course to Florida State University Schools in April 2010. Although time and travel constraints have presented challenges, we hope that more courses can be conducted in the future.

Florida sponsored the Skills for Local Safe Routes to School Program Development, conducted by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, in conjunction with the 2007 Pro-Bike/Pro-Walk Florida Conference in late August 2007. District coordinators, as well as funded and interested coordinators of local education and encouragement programs, discussed how to set up a local SRTS coalition and examples of good non-infrastructure activities.

In late 2008, the state SRTS Coordinator began e-mailing regular SRTS Updates containing information and web links related to state, national, and international SRTS news and training opportunities. These SRTS Updates are usually sent biweekly to statewide contacts, including the seven Districts, who in turn send them to their local distribution lists.

The Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Resource Center is funded primarily with Traffic Safety funds. Additional SRTS materials are funded with SRTS funds so the Resource Center can distribute information and promotional items related to SRTS and other bicycle and pedestrian programs to any interested program in Florida.

Evaluation Methods
Infrastructure applications require an estimate of how many children currently use the route proposed for improvement, and how many could use the route if the project is implemented. Applicants are now required to conduct the Student In-Class Travel Tally and report the results in the application and to the National Center for SRTS. For funded projects, Florida requires before and after data using the National Center for Safe Routes to School’s Student In-Class Travel Tally and Parent Survey.

Success Stories and Best Practices
Students Commit 2B Fit® through Safe Routes to School
The Safe Routes to School grant helped students in Broward County, Florida expand their Bicycle Safety Program and learn that safe walking and biking to school can be an excellent form of physical activity. Commit 2B Fit®, an award winning physical activity and nutrition program was integrated into the Bicycle Safety training program with the use of the Commit 2B Fit® Walk Safe – Bike Safe Youth Journal. This journal is filled with safe walking and bicycling tips and information along with fitness and nutrition journaling that provides a complete experience for the user. The parents of each student involved in this project also received a Commit 2B Fit® Adult Journal so they could participate with their children in this walking and bicycling activity.

As the students learned about walking and bicycle safety, they logged their daily nutrition and physical activity goals in their Commit 2B Fit® journal. In the journal, the students take a pledge to Commit 2B Fit and when they do, they receive a special Walk Safe Bike Safe affirmation charm that reminds them to choose walking and biking as an activity of choice. The students proudly wore the charm and necklace to show everyone of their commitment to walk and bicycle safely for physical activity.

Approximately ten times a year, Commit 2B Fit® places educational brochures in highly visible kiosks in Publix Supermarkets. With this project, two months of brochures with bicycle/walking safety information was placed in all Publix locations in Broward County as part of parent and community education.

To learn more about this project, please contact Elly Zanin, Co-Founder of Commit 2B Fit, Inc. at elly@icommit2bfit.com or call 561-271-3807. You may also visit the website at www.icommit2bfit.com.

Volusia and Flagler Counties, Florida: Expanding Safety Education
The Volusia County School District in Florida used non-infrastructure funding to train Volusia and Flagler County teachers using the Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education program. This training expanded the program to a total of seven elementary schools in Volusia and trained four new physical education teachers from Flagler County.

Contact:
William J. Poniatowski, Jr
wponiato@volusia.k12.fl.us
(386) 255-6475 

Other Statewide and Regional Programs
Florida already had two statewide programs that support SRTS, long before the federal SRTS program began. Both of the existing programs have been undergoing transitions and updates. Florida is also just beginning two new programs which will support SRTS, through partnerships with other organizations.

1. The Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program (FTBSEP), based at the University of Florida, provides training courses for physical education teachers, as well as other teachers and youth leaders, on how to teach pedestrian and bicycle safety skills in school or other settings. This program is funded by FDOT Human Resource Development (HRD) funds, which pay for the state trainers’ time, travel and expenses. There may be a modest training cost if regional trainers conduct or help with the training. Every school represented at a training course receives one curriculum set as part of the training. There is a modest cost for additional curriculum sets for teachers, and for all youth leaders. This program has recently completed “Florida’s Safe Routes to School Elementary Traffic Safety Education Guide” which includes an introduction to Safe Routes to School; classroom, on-foot and on-bike lessons; 5th grade activities; adapted lessons for physically challenged students; enrichment activities and a list of resources. To purchase this Guide and accompanying videos in CD/DVD format, contact the program coordinator, Dan Connaughton.  The program also recently pilot tested the League Certified Instructor-2 Course, a new national curriculum/training by the League of American Bicyclists, focusing on education programs for school teachers in pedestrian and bicycle safety education.
   
   In the spring of 2009, Florida DOT’s District One Non-Infrastructure Coordinator completed a statewide bid for bicycles and bicycle trailers which can be purchased by Districts or SRTS grant recipients. This District has purchased at least ten trailers complete with bicycles, helmets and other training materials, for requesting counties. Each trailer is decorated with a mural based on the winning design of a coloring contest, which depicts walking and bicycling bears. The District plans to provide a trailer and a set of bicycles and training materials to each interested county in the District. The District also hosted a series of FTBSEP train-the-trainer courses throughout southwest Florida, so the counties receiving the equipment would be ready to go when the equipment was received. There are also statewide bids for bicycle racks, covered bicycle racks, and helmets, which Districts or SRTS grant recipients can use to buy quality, low-cost equipment.
   
   Using state SRTS funds, a number of bicycle trailers, bicycle sets for training, bike racks and helmets will be ordered for requesting District and local SRTS programs.
   
   
2. The Florida School Crossing Guard Training Program, also funded through FDOT HRD funds, trains local crossing guard trainers around the state, who in turn train their local crossing guards. There is no cost for the two-day training or the one-day refresher courses. However, hosting agencies usually pay a portion of the travel costs involved. Administration of this program has also recently been turned over to the University of Florida, although the new Crossing Guard Administrator is housed in the DOT Safety Office in Tallahassee so she can coordinate closely with the SRTS and Pedestrian/Bicycle Programs. Some overhead costs are absorbed by the Safety Office. Statewide SRTS funds have been used to completely update the Crossing Guard curriculum, to create a Crossing Guard website which can be used for local trainers and the Administrator to communicate, and a data base which is used to document the training of trainers and guards. Work is continuing on a new training video and an online training course. The video will be broken into short segments which can be incorporated into the online training course which will eventually take the place of most of the classroom portion of the training course. Once prospective trainers pass the online course, they will be eligible to attend a one-day course which will consist of review, administrative discussions and lots of practical training which trainers need to train their guards. Florida’s Crossing Guard Training Program is the first (and to date the only) statewide training course of its type in the U.S. See the public portions of the website and the Guidelines at: http://www.dot.state.fl.us/safety/ped_bike/training/ped_bike_training.shtm
   
   
3. In January 2010, the Florida SRTS Network project was begun, through a partnership with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. The Network work plan is almost complete, and committees are beginning to hold conference calls on the seven policy areas selected for the work plan. Although this is an ambitious plan, the Network is strong and we feel that we can make progress on the policies. To learn more about this project, please contact Heather Murphy, Florida SRTS State Network Organizer, at florida@saferoutespartnership.org or 850- (850) 228-0028.
   
   
4. In February 2010, Florida Department of Health received Communities Putting Prevention to Work funding to work on physical activity (walking school buses), nutrition (breast feeding) and tobacco cessation programs around Florida. Thirteen full-time regional coordinators located throughout Florida will spend a third of their time creating and supporting Walking School Buses, working with District and local SRTS contacts, Safe Kids Coalitions and other appropriate personnel and volunteers to accomplish this. To learn more about this project, please contact Emily Fritz at: Emily_Fritz@doh.state.fl.us or (850) 245-4444, ext. 3305.

Legislation and Policies

State Physical Education Requirements
Florida Governor Charlie Crist is a strong supporter of physical education. A law was passed in 2007 requiring 150 minutes a week (or 30 minutes a day) of PE for K-5th graders, and encouraging 225 minutes of PE a week (or 45 minutes a day) for 6-8th graders. This new law will should make it easier for the Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program to be implemented during school hours so that more children will have the safe walking and bicycling skills needed to make SRTS programs successful.

The following benchmarks for pedestrian and bicycle skills were recently adopted for physical education classes in Kindergarten through Grade 5 in Florida:
     K: Verbally state the search "look left, look right, look left again" used before crossing a roadway.
     1: Identify edges, pedestrians, vehicles and traffic.
     2: Identify the proper crossing sequence.
     3: Differentiate between the correct and incorrect way to fit a bicycle helmet.
     4: Discuss the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet.
     5: Discus the importance of being visible, being predictable and communicating when cycling.

Wellness Policies
School wellness policies are required to be developed by each School District, and many of these policies also support SRTS programs.