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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
(904) 881-1676
tennessee@saferoutespartnership.org
www.ymcamidtn.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 totals $10,833,176 and includes the following annual apportionments:
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2005 Actual |
2006 Actual |
2007 Actual |
2008 Actual |
2009 Actual |
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$1,000,000 |
$1,596,222 |
$2,158,074 |
$2,700,824 |
$3,378,056 |
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:
Shannon Hornsby
(615) 585-2014
walkbikenashville@gmail.com
Tennessee Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support for the Safe Routes to School movement.
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