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Texas

Pflugerville, Texas, Bike Crossing

Texas SRTS Program
Managed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas’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.

Texas DOT SRTS Coordinator
Carol Campa
(512) 416-3279
CCAMPA@dot.state.tx.us
www.txdot.gov/safety/safe_routes/default.htm OR
www.saferoutestx.org

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

Texas SRTS Federal Funding
Texas’s SRTS funding totals $44,684,980 and includes the following annual apportionments:

Application Guidelines
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced its second round for project proposals with its 2009 Program Call for the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program in the Texas Register on August 28, 2009. Approved SRTS funding allocation for 2009 is $13,500,000. The Department must receive completed applications at the location specified in the register notice no later than 5:00 p.m., Monday, November 30, 2009. The timing of the next call will be determined after this cycle is completed.

There are three different types of applications: Non-Infrastructure Plan Implementation, Non-Infrastructure Statewide Services, and Infrastructure Projects. The Non-Infrastructure and Infrastructure applications required a Safe Routes to School Plan be submitted for consideration of funding.

The first program call for project proposals ended in May 2007 and projects were awarded September 27, 2007. The Texas Transportation Commission approved approximately $24.7 million in projects. Statewide, 244 projects in more than 66 communities were approved.

For more information, please see the TxDOT SRTS program.

State Advisory Committee
Texas does not have a State SRTS Advisory Committee but instead utilizes the knowledge and skills of our 27 District SRTS local contacts, the Bicycle Advisory Committee, and the TxDOT SRTS Review Committee. There are plans to propose that the TxDOT administration set up a State SRTS Advisory Committee in the near future.

State Outreach Programs
The TxDOT SRTS State Coordinator and regional SRTS staff have hosted dozens of meetings around the state to explain the new SRTS application process.

Evaluation Methods
Grantees are required to complete evaluation and scoring forms with each application. Texas also utilizes the Texas Transportation Institute to formally evaluate the success of the program. Forms and guidelines are available on the Texas SRTS program call page.

Success Stories
Amarillo, Texas: Safe Kids Week 2007
To celebrate the 2007 Safe Kids Week, Amarillo hosted an event at Will Rogers Elementary School on Friday, May 4th, 2007. The event provided fun ways for families to learn that close supervision, proper safety devices, and other simple prevention measures help children avoid injury. Over 500 students rotated through the booths to receive precautionary advice at the day-long event. The Texas Bicycle Coalition SRTS program provided tips on helmet and bicycle safety and bicycle maintenance.

Contact:
Robin Stallings
Texas Bicycle Coalition
(512) 476-7433
robin@biketexas.org
www.biketexas.org

Other Statewide and Regional Programs

RWJF Awards Texas with a $2 Million Childhood Obesity Grant
Grant will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention policies

Texas is one of three states recently awarded $2 million by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to evaluate the effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention policies. Other states named with Texas to receive the current grants were New York and Mississippi.

Two key childhood obesity prevention policies will be evaluated: Texas Safe Routes to School program, a program encouraging students to be more physically active by walking to school, and food allocation package revisions administered through Texas Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program. The purpose of the grants is to inform decision makers about the effectiveness of these two childhood obesity prevention policies. These studies will also help local, state and national policymakers identify policies that work toward promoting children’s healthy eating and increased physical activity.

This grant is unique in that the size and diversity of Texas will allow for a large study of underserved populations, determining how these policies affect different segments of the at-risk population, including the Hispanic/Latino population along the Texas/Mexico border. This award builds on previous work conducted in Texas to combat childhood obesity, including the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) survey, a statewide surveillance system that monitors the prevalence of obesity in school-aged children. States previously awarded similar grants from RWJF were Arkansas, Delaware, and West Virginia.

Co-leading the program will be Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D., R.D., professor at The University of Texas School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus and director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, and Marcia Ory, Ph.D., Regents Professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. Project director will be Diane Dowdy, Ph.D., from the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. Dr. Hoelscher stated: "This grant is historic in that it brings together researchers from both the University of Texas School of Public Health and Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, as well as a statewide consortium of other academic institutions, community groups and stakeholders in a focused effort to address one of the most significant public health issues of our time- childhood obesity."

BikeTexas SRTS Program
Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund has operated the BikeTexas Safe Routes to School program since 2004 with funding from a U.S. Department of Education, Carol M. White Physical Education Program grant. The BikeTexas SRTS regional program concentrates on SRTS encouragement and education activities in Lubbock, Amarillo, Fort Worth, Witchita Falls, and surrounding towns.

Texas SuperCyclist Project
Since 1998 the Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund has managed the Texas SuperCyclist project with traffic safety funding from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Over 500,000 Texas 4th and 5th grade school children have received at least five hours of bicycle and pedestrian safety instruction from their elementary P.E. teachers. The SuperCyclist project has trained over 3,000 elementary P.E. teachers in the “train the trainer” type program. The SuperCyclist project is the nucleus of the BikeTexas Safe Routes to School program.

Texas 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

Matthew Brown Act
The Texas Legislature passed the Matthew Brown Act in 2001 and laid the foundation for the state Safe Routes to School infrastructure program. Twenty-seven awards were given in a 2003 call for infrastructure projects. The lessons learned from that pilot program helped establish the current TxDOT Safe Routes to School program.

Wellness
In 2003 and 2007 the Texas Legislature passed bills that require 30 minutes per day of physical activity for K-8.

Curriculum
In 1993 the Texas Legislature passed a bill requiring the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to develop a bicycle safety curriculum. The SuperCyclist curriculum was developed in partnership with the Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund.