Tennessee

Tennessee SRTS State Network
Tennessee 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.

Tennessee SRTS Program
Managed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), Tennessee’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

Tennessee Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support as partner affiliates of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

Tennessee SRTS State Network
Tennessee 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.

Tennessee State Network Organizer
Drew Jacobs
YMCA of Middle Tennessee
(615)-259-9622 ext. 70162
tennessee@saferoutespartnership.org
www.ymcamidtn.org

Tennessee SRTS State Network Partners
Bike Walk Tennessee
Outdoor Chattanooga
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Tennessee Obesity Taskforce
Tennessee Department of Education, Office of Coordinated School Health
Tennessee Department of Health
The TMA Group
YMCA of Middle Tennessee

Tennessee has a lot going on in terms of SRTS related activity. Here are some of the highlights:

First State Network Call: On Thursday, February 4th, Tennessee held its first State Network Project call. The call was comprised of a wide range of stakeholders from across the state, including individuals from the fields of education, transportation, health, and advocacy. Our next steps will include researching our state level policies related to SRTS and developing a statewide action plan. Our Network is always recruiting individuals who are interested in SRTS. To join the Tennessee State Network contact Drew Jacobs, Tennessee State Network Organizer at Tennessee@saferoutespartnership.org.
Second State Network Call: On Thursday March 4th, Tennessee held its second State Network Project call. We have now increased our State Network to approximately 40 active participants from across the State of Tennessee. Our Network Partners have worked incredibly hard researching law, policy and practice across the State of Tennessee related to SRTS. Our next step will be developing our Statewide Action Plan that will identify what particular goals and objectives are priorities for us as a state.
TDOT SRTS Website Update: Network Partner and State SRTS Coordinator Diana Benedict, recently updated the TDOT SRTS website. To check out the updated information and to stay current on Tennessee’s State SRTS program, click here: http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/bikeped/saferoutes.htm.
School Siting Symposium: The Nashville Area MPO sponsored the area’s first ever school siting symposium. The symposium brought together well over 100 elected officials, architects, planners, school officials and community members to discuss issues related to school facilities. Speakers included Dr. David Salvesen of UNC, Matt Dalbey from the U.S. EPA Smart Growth Program and Sharon Roerty, Executive Director of the National Center on Bicycling and Walking. Breakouts included the following topics as they relate to school siting:

Transportation
Health
Historic Preservation
LEED Certification
Parks
Intergovernmental Collaboration

Complete Streets Workshop: For two days, January 28 and 29, 2010, the MPO and the TMA Group co-hosted the Nashville Area Complete Streets Symposium and Workshop aimed at helping the region move beyond the usual focus on design specifics, towards an improved understanding of how we might transform decision-making processes so that Complete Streets policies are adopted throughout Middle Tennessee. Speakers included Michael Ronkin and Randy Neufield.

For more information about either the School Siting Symposium or the Complete Streets Workshop, visit www.nashvillempo.org.

Tennessee SRTS Program
Managed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), Tennessee’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.

Tennessee DOT SRTS Coordinator
Diana Benedict
(615) 253-2421
Diana.Benedict@tn.gov
http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/bikeped/saferoutes.htm

Click on any of the menu items below for more information.
Tennessee SRTS Federal Funding
Success Stories and Best Practices
Tennessee Partner Affiliates

Tennessee SRTS Federal Funding
Tennessee’s SRTS funding from FY2005-2009* totals $10,859,965 and includes the following annual apportionments:

2005 Actual

2006 Actual

2007 Actual

2008 Actual

2009 Actual

$1,000,000

$1,596,222

$2,158,074

$2,700,824

$3,404,845

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

Success Stories and Best Practices
Medina, Tennessee: Walking & Biking to School - Safely
Medina, a small city in West Tennessee, has had growth of 155% in just five years. City officials, school faculty, and local citizens are concerned with safe and active school travel in the community. Students walk on narrow, grassy, and often muddy street banks or cross and walk along busy, congested two-lane rural streets. By including a variety of stakeholders during the school travel plan process, Medina applied for and received a Safe Routes to School Grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Medina identified strategies involving the five “Es” of Safe Routes to School to address the barriers of walking and biking to school. By creating educational materials, encouraging and promoting a Walk to School Day, and enforcing lower speed limits in the school vicinity, students can make use of safe, physically active transportation. This grant will allow for the engineering of sidewalks and street crossing improvements and assist with programs to teach safe pedestrian and cycling skills as well as active lifestyles. Evaluation strategies will be utilized to gauge the success of this project.

Medina Middle School is proud to showcase it “Power 90” fitness program that encourages students to exercise cooperatively in a more concentrated way. By partnering with the Safe Routes to School Program, Medina is “On the Move” and committed to improving the health and safety of children.

* Medina Middle School featured in Scholastic News magazine for its “Power 90” Fitness Program *

Memphis, Tennessee: Safe Routes to School (SRTS) - Frayser Elementary School
Frayser Elementary School is located in an area with a high concentration of inexperienced teenage drivers from the adjacent high school. The area surrounding the school is predominantly single family residential and includes commercial development and excessive traffic volume. The primary safety issues include U-turns, speeding vehicles, pick-up and drop-off traffic, left turning vehicles conflicting with student pedestrians, faded crosswalks, and jaywalking students.

Frayser was awarded $250,000 by the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s SRTS Program to package a comprehensive plan addressing the needs of an inner city walkable neighborhood. Dr. Susan Roakes, Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning and her students coordinated a number of planning meetings with multiple project partners. This collaborative effort created a Safe Routes program focused on safety and convenience for the Frayser community.

Engineering activities for Frayser include a raised median, two crosswalks, and three restriped crosswalks. Education activities include programs to develop an age-appropriate curriculum with lesson plans that use games and puzzles, whereby children are encouraged to make appropriate choices in described scenarios. The safe driving campaign will have as its goal changing the social acceptability of speeding, U-turns, and not stopping for crosswalks. Enforcement activities include monitoring and enforcement of speed limits, no U-turns, stopping at crosswalks, and pedestrian safety practices by the Memphis Police Department North Precinct. Encouragement activities include the creation and maintenance of walking “school busses” of students and parents and special events that highlight walking and make participation fun. This includes a monthly "Walk to School Day”, each with a different theme. Evaluation activities include a multi-faceted protocol that addresses multiple measures to determine the program’s success. Data will be collected before, during, and at the end of the grant period.

Frayser is an area seeking to revitalize itself through building neighborhood organizations, dealing with crime and other safety issues, cleaning up physical obstacles, improving community health, and enhancing educational opportunities. This project not only addresses concerns about the safety of children attending Frayser Elementary but is a significant step in neighborhood capacity building, as partners join together to meet mutual goals.

Contact:
Diana Benedict
(615) 253-2421
Diana.Benedict@tn.gov

Nashville, Tennessee: School Zone Signage Made Possible
A small private school in east Nashville operated for six years without a designated school zone. Private schools in Nashville are required to pay for their own school signage, and this particular school had limited funds due to the population it served and the small number of students in attendance. Upon examination of the area surrounding the school, Music City Moves! made a simple recommendation in order to address speeding in the area. With a small portion of funds set aside for infrastructure improvements through grant monies, the Partnership was able to offer the school signage for a school zone, and helped arrange for Nashville Public Works to put the signage in place.

Music City Moves! and Walk/Bike Nashville have been serving low-income schools in the Nashville area for approximately 5 years now. The SRTS program was initially set into motion with funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s, Active Living by Design grant.

Contact:
Drew Jacobs, Program Director
Walk/Bike Nashville
(904)-881-1676
andrew.jacobs@vanderbilt.edu

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