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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q - What is Safe Routes to School (SR2S)?
Q - How do SR2S programs work?
Q - What are the 5 E´s?
Q - Who can apply for funding?
Q - How do we apply for funding?
Q - Who needs to be involved?
Q - What is the rationale behind SR2S?
Q - What are the benefits of a SR2S program?
Q - What are some examples of good Safe Routes to School projects?
Q - Do SR2S programs work?
Q - Can SR2S funds be used for School Crossing Guards?
Q - What is a "walking school bus"?
Q - What is "traffic calming"?
Q - What is a "walking audit"?
Q - What is "Walk to School Day"?
Q - Where can I find a SR2S curriculum?
Q - Can I use SR2S funding as my 20% local match required for other Federal funding programs?
Q - What are MPO´s and why are they important to the SR2S program?
Q - Where can I find information about designing pedestrian or bicycle facilities?
* - General Information
What is Safe Routes to School (SR2S)?
Safe Routes to School (SR2S) is a federal, state and local effort to enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school - and to make walking and bicycling to school safe r and more routine . FHWA guidance for the Safe Routes To School (SR2S) program is available at FHWA's web site:
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/saferoutes/index.htm
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How do SR2S programs work?
Schools and organizations applying for SR2S funding are advised to form a local team consisting of school administrators, municipal officials, teachers, parents, student leaders, traffic engineers, law enforcement officers and other interested community members. This team works together to assess attitudes and behaviors of parents and students, analyze the physical environment leading to the school and research related school policies. The team then makes an application to the state's SR2S program for funding for projects. Funds can be used to improve infrastructure, and fund non-infrastructure programs that include education, enforcement and encouragement. Applications must address each of the 5E's associated with SR2S .
Go to the National Center for Safe Routes to School website for more information.
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What are the 5 E´s?
SR2S applications must address each of the 5E components, engineering,
education,
enforcement,
encouragement and
evaluation-
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Who can apply for funding?
Schools, non-profit organizations, state, city and counties can apply for SR2S funds to increase mobility among school
children within a 2 mile radius of K-8 Grade schools. Infrastructure projects must be sponsored by the agency within
whose jurisdiction they lie. SR2S funds are available for a variety
of projects including infrastructure improvements, education, and enforcement that improve the safety of children
when bicycling and walking to and from school. The funding is split between infrastructure (70-90 percent) to (10-30 percent)
for education and enforcement. SR2S funding does not require a local match. The sponsor pays the cost of the project and
submits a reimbursement request to the Idaho Transportation Department. Sponsors must budget for these costs.
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How do we apply for funding?
The first step is to submit a Letter of Intent to Apply to the Idaho Transportation
Department by January 31, 2007. This will enable the SR2S Advisory Committee to identify the needs of communities statewide,
and will assist them in the implementation of the program.
In the second step the sponsors of the Letters of Intent to Apply will be contacted and instructed on how to apply for
SR2S funds by the last week of February 2007. Sponsors have six weeks to put together their SR2S Application for projects.
Awards will be announced following the recommendations of the SR2S Advisory Committee to the ITD Board in May 2007.
Projects recommended for funding will be authorized to commence on June 1, 2007.
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Who needs to be involved?
Each project is managed by its own local team, the team can be comprised of locals from education, engineering, enforcement,
health care and concerned citizens. The Idaho Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee (SR2SAC) reviews and selects SR2S projects.
Idaho Transportation Department’s SR2S coordinator administers the Idaho SR2S program. It is strongly encouraged for sponsors to
designate a team leader or “champion” to lead the project, keep the work on track and provide progress reports to the SR2S program
coordinator. For information on how to get started go to:
http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/guide/steps/index.cfm
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What is the rationale behind SR2S?
According to a study conducted by the Federal Highway Administration, most of today´s parents walked or biked to elementary school
when they were young. They explored their neighborhoods regularly on bike or on foot that offered them independence and resulted
in self-assurance.
By contrast, children today are driven to nearly all of their activities and only 10 percent walk to school every day.
There are several reasons for this sharp decline. The journey between home and school has become longer and more treacherous
because of decades of auto-oriented suburbanization. This pattern has been compounded by the trend towards building new schools
at a distance from residential areas.
In addition, parents fear exposing their children to threats from strangers and motor vehicles. And finally, in many communities,
sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, and trails are either missing or inadequate.
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What are the benefits of a SR2S program?
A successful Safe Routes to School program benefits children in several ways. When routes are safe, walking or biking to and from school
is an easy way to get the regular physical activity children need for good health. Studies have shown that physically active kids have
improved mood and concentration, a stronger self-image and more self-confidence. Physically active kids also have fewer chronic health
problems and report lower levels of smoking and alcohol consumption.
It’s also fun! Research shows that walking or riding is children’s preferred method of getting to school. There´s so much to see,
smell, touch, think, and talk about. By walking with friends, children will build relationships and learn more about their neighborhood,
their friends, and themselves.
Safe Routes to School initiatives help the environment by easing traffic jams and curbing air pollution. Research has shown that
25 percent of morning traffic is parents driving their students to school. Fewer car trips also mean lower gasoline bills, a
significant factor with today’s higher prices.
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What are some examples of good Safe Routes to School projects?
Good infrastructure projects include (but are not limited to): bike racks, signing, pavement marking & striping, traffic
calming, sidewalk completion and speed monitoring devises. Good non-infrastructure projects include (but are not limited to):
sponsoring a bike/walk to school day, biking and walking training, and development of a Safe Routes plan around a school.
Selective traffic enforcement and public safety awareness campaigns focused on safety may also be funded.
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Do SR2S programs work?
Yes! The Marin County, California, Safe Routes to School program (the first of its kind in the U.S.) reported a 64 percent increase
in the number of students walking to school, a 114 percent increase in the number of children bicycling and a 39 percent decrease
in the number of children arriving singly by private car.
Schools in states who have already implemented SR2S programs have already made changes in their environments such as re-striping
crosswalks, starting walking school buses (supervised group walks to and from school) and redesigning their drop-off and pickup
points at school entrances. Examples of case studies can be found at the
National SR2S web site.
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Can SR2S funds be used for School Crossing Guards?
Crossing guards help children cross busy streets, they also help form good pedestrian safety awareness habits among children.
SR2S funds can be used to pay for training and equipment for crossing guards,
but not salaries. SR2S teams can help identify the locations where adult school crossing guards are needed, help establish crossing procedures, and secure long-term funding
for the program.
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What is a "walking school bus"?
A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. It works like this: an adult or
group of adults begin walking along a set route to school. As they walk, they make "bus stops" and "pick up"
other children along the way.
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What is "traffic calming"?
The Institute of Transportation Engineers defines traffic calming as "changes in street alignment, installation of barriers,
and other physical measures to reduce traffic speeds and/or cut-through volumes in the interest of street safety, livability
and other public purposes."
Traffic calming measures can include: narrowing the street by reducing the number of lanes; building speed bumps or humps; adding
traffic circles or roundabouts; adding raised pedestrian crosswalks; converting two-way streets to one-way streets; adding of
curb extensions or "bulb-outs."
Pedsafe
Bikesafe
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What is a "walking audit"?
A walking audit (also known as a walking tour or environmental assessment) is a report done by parents, school administrators and other
community members who tour the school property and adjacent neighborhoods to look for routes students can safely use to get to school.
The tours reveal what students experience during their walk to school and give school team’s firsthand evidence of existing
safety problems. The audits are generally done during school arrival and dismissal times.
The audits typically focus on the walking and biking routes currently used to travel to school, the walking and biking
routes that could be used to travel to school and the school property itself, especially pick-up and drop-off sites used
by buses and parents.
Walkability-checklist
Bikeability-checklist
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What is "Walk to School Day"?
Walk to School Day, like SR2S, is a school-based initiative to encourage physical activity among Idaho´s children.
However, it is a one-day event and not a continuing program like SR2S.
Walk to School Day has become the kick-off event for Safe Routes to School and is usually held the first week in October.
It is a way for parents, students, school personnel and other community members to directly experience the trip to school
on foot as they walk and bike with students on the day of the event. It often generates discussions on the importance of
physical activity, awareness of the fun of walking and biking, and early identification of safety concerns.
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Where can I find a SR2S curriculum?
There are several. The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration´s national model Safe Routes to School
programs, the
Maryland Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Education Program.
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Can I use SR2S funding as my 20% local match required for other Federal funding programs?
No, you cannot use one Federal funding source as the 20% local match required for other Federal funding.
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What are MPO's and why are they important to the SR2S program?
MPO stands for Metropolitan Planning Organization and they are responsible for long range planning and the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) in communities with populations of 50,000 or more.
In Idaho the following communities have active Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO):
- Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization KMPO
- Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization BMPO
- Compass Northern Ada County COMNOR
- Compass Nampa-Caldwell COMPN
- Bannock Planning Organization BPO
- Lewis-Clark Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization LCVM
It is strongly recommended that applicants in an MPO area contact their MPO prior to submitting their SR2S application to coordinate with the MPO's planning and existing transportation projects.
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Where can I find information about designing pedestrian or bicycle facilities?
The US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Accommodating Bicycle
and Pedestrian Travel: A Recommended Approach are helpful.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is
a clearinghouse for information about health and safety, engineering, advocacy, education, enforcement and access and mobility.
The AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities is recommended.
See the National Center for Safe Routes to School for more information
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General Information
Communities across the country are embracing Safe Routes to School programs with significant successes:
- In 2000, California created a statewide Safe Routes to School program using Safety Setaside funds. Requests for funding totaled more than five times the available money.
- In 2002, Texas DOT received funding requests totaling $45 million for their newly established $3 million Safe Routes to School fund.
- A Federal Safe Routes to School pilot program in Marin County, CA, spurred a 57% increase in the number of children walking and bicycling to school and a 29% drop in car trips – all in the first year of operation.
- The nation’s first Safe Routes to School initiative started with 38 schools in the Bronx area of New York City – it has since been expanded to all 1,359 schools in the city.
- Denmark has cut pedestrian and bicycle casualties among school children by more than 80% since focusing on Safe Routes to School in 1976.
- A recent study found that children whose route to school passed a completed Safe Routes to School safety project in California were three times more likely to increase their walking to school than children whose route did not include the improvement.
Information from America Bikes
Information from the Bikes Belong Coalition
National Center for Biking and Walking Publishes "Livable Streets for Schoolchildren"
The National Center for Biking and Walking (NCBW) Forum recently published the article entitled, "Livable Streets
for Schoolchildren," by Bruce S. Appleyard, MCP, AICP. The article describes the world as seen through the eyes of
children and powerfully illustrates how streets and communities are impacted by automobile traffic and inadequate
pedestrian and bicycle facilities. In addition to the negative physical effects our overdependence on automobiles
has on children, the article illustrates the negative social impacts of a society where "cars rule our streets."
The author shows how completing our streets for walkers and cyclists and creating "safe routes to school" programs
can help improve livability and our children´s quality of life. The 15-page article is available for viewing or
downloading at: http://www.bikewalk.org/pdfs/forumarch0305.pdf
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