Iowa

Iowa SRTS Program

Managed by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), Iowa’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.

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Iowa SRTS Federal Funding  |  Application Guidelines
State Advisory Committee  |  State Outreach Programs
Evaluation Methods  |  Iowa Partner Affiliates

Iowa SRTS Federal Funding

Iowa’s SRTS funding from FY2005-2009* totals $6,108,340 and includes the following annual apportionments:

* Funding for SRTS is being continued into FY2010 and FY2011 at FY2009 levels.

Application Guidelines

Iowa has three types of applications—infrastructure, non-infrastructure activities, and studies/plans. Though applications don’t require a school travel plan, extra points are given to those applications that have one in place. The application deadline is October 1 each year.

Iowa has completed 5 rounds of funding. Awards are made each January, however, local implementation does not begin until the following October when the federal funds are released.

For more information, please see the Iowa SRTS program.

State Advisory Committee

Iowa’s SRTS State Advisory Committee was formed in early 2006 and includes representatives of: Departments of Public Health and Education, Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Regional Planning Affiliations, School Administrators of Iowa, Safe Kids Coalition, Iowa Bicycle Coalition, DOT Traffic Engineer, and DOT SRTS Coordinator. This group assists in developing the applications, scoring criteria, logo, etc., and meets on an as-needed basis.

The scoring committee was formed as a subcommittee of the advisory committee because the entire advisory committee was too large. The scoring committee includes representatives of the Department of Public Health, Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Iowa Pupil Transportation Association, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Regional Planning Affiliations, DOT Safety Engineer, and DOT SRTS Coordinator. Also, unlike some states, all committee members score all applications, since we do not have a filtering process in place.

State Outreach Programs

Iowa is implementing a state outreach program with assistance from the Iowa Bicycle Coalition (IBC) which received SRTS funding to develop a statewide education, encouragement, and training program. The IBC staff has been providing SRTS workshops as requested by communities and schools throughout the state at no cost.

The IBC has developed two useful resource documents "Iowa Kids on the Move: Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Curriculum" for children in grades K through 6 and and “Iowa’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Encouragement Guide.”

The IBC has also developed and begun teaching an Iowa Adult School Crossing Guard Training program. The course is specifically geared for school or community crossing guard trainers and supervisors such as school officials, law enforcement officers, or any persons who will be training local crossing guards.

IBC named Nick Sobocinski as its new Safe Routes to School coordinator.

Evaluation Methods

Grantees and applicants are required to use the data collection forms available from the National Center for Safe Routes to School for collecting before and after figures for bicycling and walking.

Iowa Partner Affiliates

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