Safe Routes to School Basics
April Morrison-Harke
SR2S Contracts Coordinator
amorrison-harke@michiganfitness.org
Overview
• What is Safe Routes to School?
• The Five E’s
• SR2S Action Plan Steps
• Federal Funding
• Resources
www.saferoutesmichigan.org
2
SRTS: It’s more than money
Submit
Application
Implement
Action Plan
Develop an
Action Plan using
SRTS Planning
Process
3
Four SR2S Goals
1. Encourage and enable all school children, to walk
and bicycle to and from school when distance is
reasonable and routes are safe
2. Make walking and bicycling routes to school safer
3. Promote lifelong habits of physical activity
4. Reduce traffic and pollution around schools
4
Kids, Activity and Obesity
100
Percent
80
60
U.S. children who
walk or bike to
school 50%
40
30%
20
U.S. children who
are overweight or
obese 8%
15%
0
1969
1980
1990
2001
5
Containerized Living
6
Safer infrastructure
+
Education Safety Motivation
More Pedestrians and Cyclists
Increased Physical
Activity
Reduced gas
consumption
Cost Savings
Convenience
Reduced Pollution
Less Traffic
Places
People
Want
to
Live
Healthier
Kids & Adults
Improved Grades
Lifelong Habits
Readiness to Learn
7
The Five E’s
1. Educate students and parents for safe nonmotorized travel
2. Encourage students to safely walk or bike to
and from school
3. Enforce rules and laws to keep pedestrians
and bicyclists safe
4. Engineer environmental changes for safe
passage
5. Evaluate the impact of SR2S
8
Educate students, parents & community
about pedestrian and bicycle safety, personal
safety & safety around the school
9
Encourage walking school buses, bike trains,
friendly competition.
Register for Walk to School Day!
saferoutesmichigan.org/w2sd
10
Enforce proper parking and reduce speeding
through progressive ticketing & safety patrols
11
Engineer around the school, along the school
route & at street crossings
Signs
Islands
Paint
Ramps
12
Evaluate using Student and Parent Surveys,
Walking Audits, and Student Travel Tallies
13
SR2S 5-Step Planning Process
1. Register your school
2. Build a SR2S Planning Team to complete steps
3-5 and beyond.
3. Conduct Student and Parent Surveys and Student
Travel Tallies
4. Conduct Walking Audits
5. Build an Action Plan using surveys and audits
Optional:
a) Bicycle audit
b) Walk to School Day
c) Federal funding
14
Step 1: Register Your School at:
saferoutesmichigan.org/register
15
Step 2: Form a SR2S Planning Team
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Principal/District officials
Community planners
Trail/bicycling groups
Parents
Teachers
Students
Road authority
Law enforcement
Civic leaders
Non-motorized experts
Important: Find the Transportation Service Center (TSC) staff person
in your community at:
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9623-36042--,00.html 16
Step 3: Evaluate using Student and Parent
Surveys, Walking Audits, and In-Class Tallies
17
Step 4: Conduct a Walking Audit
Use Communitywalk.com to map walking routes
18
Step 5: Develop a Plan to Implement Engineering,
Education, Encouragement & Enforcement activities
Meeting Notes + Survey Data + Walking Audit Data = Action Plan
saferoutesmichigan.org/train
Reminder: Required for a federal application, but not all of
the items listed in your action plan should be funded with
Federal SRTS Program dollars
19
Step 5 (Optional): Apply for Federal Program
Dollars
• Typical award size is approximately $200,000
per school (Infrastructure ($192,000),
Noninfrastructure ($8,000)
• Quarterly funding
• Funding is competitive
• For funding guidelines visit:
http://saferoutesmichigan.org/funding
20
Eligibility Requirements
•
Infrastructure within two miles of the school
• A balance of infrastructure and non-infrastructure
programs
• Match required of 20% cash minimum
21
Eligibility Requirements
• Schools serving kindergarten-8th grade students
• Preliminary discussion with regional grant
coordinator
• Involve the appropriate agency (city, village, or
county road commission(s) that controls the
roadway(s) under consideration.
22
Eligibility Requirements
• Demonstrate an active and involved planning
team
• Demonstrate ongoing progress on their action
plan
• Have clear connections between survey
results, walking and bikeability audit results,
action plan, and funding application
• Build a strong case for activities not identified
23
through survey or audit
Eligibility Requirements
• Benefit a significant number of students
• Follow the application directions
• An accurate reasonable budget per school
24
Eligibility
Infrastructure
Engineering
•
•
•
•
Sidewalks, trails, and bicycle lanes
Pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements
On-street/off-street bicycle facilities
Traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of
schools
• Traffic calming and speed reduction
25
Eligibility
•
•
•
•
•
•
Noninfrastructure
Education, Encourage, Enforcement
Child pedestrian safety education
Activities to encourage walking/biking to school
Walk or bike to school groups (e.g. walking school
bus, bike trains)
Volunteer coordinator stipends associated with
specific deliverables
Child bicycle safety education
Make Trax curriculum implementation activities
26
Ineligibility Projects/Activities
• Pedestrian bridges
• Sidewalks or paths that do not connect
schools with residential areas (i.e. connecting
schools on a campus, connecting schools with
recreational or athletic facilities)
• Projects that reorganize pick-up and drop-off
areas primarily for the convenience of drivers
• Improvements to bus stops and bus safety
programs
• At-school mileage clubs
• Neighborhood clean-ups
• Sidewalks on one side
27
Ineligibility Projects/Activities
• Construction extras and cost overruns
• Design engineering & construction engineering
• Environmental clearance and mitigation
• Permit costs
• Project administration
• Grant funds capped at lower bid amount
additional awarded amount not available
28
Ineligibility Projects/Activities
• Cost for required traffic signal warrant studies
• Equipment for infrastructure maintenance
• Landscaping
• Purchase of right of way
• Raised crosswalks
• Stand-alone ramps, which should be done with other
funds to meet ADA requirements
• Supplementing or replacing existing funding
29
Online Resources
Michigan SR2S: saferoutesmichigan.org
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•
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SR2S Handbook and Make Trax Curriculum
Regional training information
Resources for students with disabilities
E-newsletters
Walk to School Day
Funding information
National Center for SRTS: saferoutesinfo.org
• National best practice information
• Parent and Student Travel Tally surveys
SRTS Nat’l Partnership: saferoutespartnership.org
• National advocacy to advance the SRTS movement
30
Statewide Partners
• The Michigan Association of Planning
• MSU Department, of Community, Agriculture,
Recreation and Resource Studies
• League of Michigan Bicyclists
• Michigan State University Extension
• Michigan State University SPDC
• Michigan Trails and Greenways Association
• Programs to Educate All Cyclists
• Wayne State University Engineering
• Wayne State University Urban Programs
31
Michigan Technical Assistance
Need Help With?
Contact
Information from MDOT
SR2S State Infrastructure Program Leadership
Bryan Armstrong, SR2S MDOT Program Manager
armstrongb@michigan.gov 517.335.2636
SR2S Contracts, Training, and Invoicing
Southwest, Bay, and North Regions
April Morrison-Harke, SR2S Contract Coordinator
amorrison-harke@michiganfitness.org 517.908.3832
Completing SR2S Surveys
Website Assistance
Walking School Bus information
Walk to School Day
Grand, Metro, University, and Superior Regions
Adrianna Jordan, SR2S Operations Coordinator
ajordan@michiganfitness.org 517.908.3826
SR2S State Non-Infrastructure Program Leadership
SR2S for Students with Disabilities
Meg Thomas, SR2S MFF Program Director
mthomas@michiganfitness.org 517.908.3824
32
MDOT Regions
Superior (1) Grand (3)
University (6) Metro (7)
Adrianna Jordan
(517) 908-3826 ajordan@michiganfitness.org
North (2) Bay (4) Southwest (5)
April Morrison-Harke
(517) 908.3832 amorrison-harke@michiganfitness.org
33
“Thank you to all who have invested in the children of Gross Ile
and gave them a safe place to walk, ride bikes and play.”
-Letter to the Editor, The Gross Ile Camera, 9/10/2010
Thank you