Colorado

Colorado SRTS State Network
Colorado 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.

Colorado SRTS Program
Managed by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Colorado’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

Colorado 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

Colorado SRTS State Network

Colorado 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.

Colorado State Network Policy Achievements:

This promotional piece highlights Colorado's state network policy achievements.

Colorado SRTS Program

Managed by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Colorado’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.

Quick Links

Colorado SRTS Federal Funding  |  Application Guidelines
State Advisory Committee  |  State Outreach Programs
Evaluation Methods  |  Success Stories and Best Practices
Legislation and Policies

Colorado SRTS Federal Funding

Colorado’s SRTS funding from FY2005-2009* totals $8,713,500 and includes the following annual apportionments:

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

Application Guidelines

CDOT’s Public Information Office announced a call for 2012 SRTS applications. You can view or download the 2012 Infrastructure and Non-Infrastructure applications. Applications are due Friday, December 2, 2011 at 4p.m.

Colorado’s 2011 application cycle ended in December 2010. Grant awards were announced in Spring 2011 with final contracts in August.

There are separate applications for infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects. Minimum funding for infrastructure projects is set at $50,000 with maximum funding at $250,000. Minimum funding for non-infrastructure projects is set at $3500. View funded Colorado projects.

The 2012 Application Cycle is now open! For more information, please download the applications from the Colorado Department of Transportation at: http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/bikeped/safe-routes

State Advisory Committee

Colorado state law, HB 1309, dictates that the CDOT SRTS program will have an Advisory Committee of no more than nine members. The act further indicates that five of those members should include at least one person from a statewide organization representing the following groups: educators, parents, bicyclists, pedestrians, and law enforcement personnel. CDOT rules dictate that four members will include two metropolitan planning organization (MPO) and two transportation planning region (TPR) representatives.

The Advisory Committee has the following annual meeting schedule:

• January/February – Project selection
• July – Program plans, administration, and committee member recruitment
• October – New members welcomed and next application cycle discussed

State Outreach Programs

The state has almost 60 officially trained crossing guard trainers available in Colorado. Colorado is also focusing on a Colorado and National Standards-Based curricula that should be available by Fall 2011.

Evaluation Methods

Applicants are required to submit evaluation data using the National Center for Safe Routes to School Student Arrival and Departure Talley Sheet and Parent Survey. CDOT also requires a final accomplishment report. The final accomplishment reports will be available through their statewide funding map.

Success Stories and Best Practices

Littleton Public Schools receives $47,000 in Safe Routes to School funding

Littleton Public Schools receives grant that will benefit five local elementary schools. Highland Elementary, Runyon Elementary, Centennial Academy, Sandburg Elementary and Peadbody Elementary will receive funding, which will go toward bicycle and pedestrian safety programs. Older students will then participate in a bicycle rodeo where they can practice and demonstrate what they’ve learned. The classes will begin in the spring and extend through next fall.

Boulder, CO

$270,000 in SRTS funding helped fund encouragement and education programs at several elementary schools in Longmont and Boulder, CO areas. Before the program began at one of the elementary schools, only about a dozen children were bicycling to school regularly. By the end of the school year, the program averaged 60 participants per day, a five-fold increase.

Longmont, CO

Three elementary schools in Longmont, CO average a total of 414 children walking or bicycling both to and from school each day—one-third of the student population. This saves parents close to 150,000 miles of driving, which equates to a savings of 68 tons of carbon dioxide and 4 tons of other pollutants.

Boulder, Colorado - Culture shift: Changing the habits of entire families

Boulder’s High-Tech Solution: Boltage Encourages and Measures Bicycle Riders and Walkers

Boltage is a non-profit organization that uses incentives and innovative technology to encourage children to ride and walk to school. Kids earn prizes based on the number of days they ride or walk. The ZAP, a solar-powered, eco-friendly radio frequency ID (RFID) tag reader registers RFID tags attached to the kids’ backpacks or helmets. The ZAP counts the number of times a child rides or walks to school, and then wirelessly uploads the data to the Boltage website so children can see how close they are to earning a prize. Moreover, the ZAP automatically measures participation every day, rain or shine. Prizes are determined by the participating school.

To date, Boltage has been implemented at 5 schools in the Boulder Valley, Saint Vrain Valley, and Calhan School Districts in Colorado - Crest View Elementary, Foothill Elementary, Casey Middle, Burlington Elementary, and Calhan School – as well as 31 other schools nationwide. The ZAP located at Crest View Elementary in Boulder has been in place since 2005. Since its installation, the number of bicycle trips has doubled from 10,000 to 20,000 per year. On any given day, 25% of the students may ride their bikes to school. Ned Levine, Crest View’s principal, raves about the program: "Our bike racks are overflowing. Everybody here loves the program and the extra encouragement it provides to students to bike to school."

As of January 2008, Boltage has received approximately $16,000 in federal SRTS funds from the Boulder Valley School District for the 2006-08 school years. Starting in 2010, the Calhan School received SRTS funding to implement the Boltage program at their school. The majority of funding for Boltage has come from monetary and in-kind donations and sponsorships from individuals and businesses. As of the 2010-11 school year, Boltage has expanded and now supports a total of 35 schools nationwide. Boltage also hopes to build additional functions into its technology before the next school year, including the ability to calculate calories burned, emissions saved, and other indicators of success.

Contact:

Zach Noffsinger
Boltage, Inc.
zach@boltage.org
http://www.boltage.org

Longmont, Colorado: School Plan with 5Es

Five Longmont, Colorado schools are part of a community that has built its SRTS program on all 5 Es and boasts participation rates as high as 96 percent. Evaluation methods include student and parent surveys by the schools and traffic counts by the City of Longmont Traffic Engineers.

Education efforts include an annual “Parent Night” information booth and safety instruction by League Cycling Instructors while encouragement activities include Walk or Wheel (WOW) Thursdays and a regular incentive program with raffle tickets for participation. Engineering and enforcement involve the City, which provides route maps, infrastructure improvements, and police assistance.

The results? At one elementary school, Columbine Elementary School, the total number of cars doing drop-offs has been reduced to fewer than 15 daily where once 189 children (out of a total enrollment of 401) were being driven to school.

Contact:

Buzz Feldman
High Gear Cyclery, Inc.
buzz@highgearbike.com
(303) 772-4372

Legislation and Policies

Colorado state law (HB 1309 (.pdf download)) officially established and outlined a state SRTS program to distribute federal funds received by the state to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists in school areas.

Colorado also has a new state law, Safe Streets for Children HB 1147, which can be viewed at http://bicyclecolo.org/.