ACTIVE
TRANSPORTATION
PROGRAM
CYCLE 1
APPLICATION
Part 2
(Includes Narrative Sections II, III & IV)
Lake Tahoe Unified School District Safe Routes to School Master Plan
Part II Page 1 of 13
II. PROJECT INFORMATION
1. Project Location
The project is for the development of a Safe Routes to School Master Plan including
identification of infrastructure and non-infrastructure recommendations for six (6) schools within
the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, primarily in South Lake Tahoe. The schools include: Bijou
Community School, Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School, Sierra House Elementary
School, Tahoe Valley Elementary School, South Tahoe Middle School, South Tahoe High School,.
See Attachment C for a map of the project location denoting the school sites.
2. Project Coordinates
Bijou Community School:
Latitude
Longitude
38.940468
(Decimal degrees)
-119.959771
(Decimal degrees)
Lake Tahoe Environmental
Science Magnet School:
Latitude
38.860417
Longitude
(Decimal degrees)
Sierra House Elementary:
Latitude
38.906862
(Decimal degrees)
Longitude
(Decimal degrees)
Tahoe Valley Elementary:
Latitude
38.922048
Latitude
38.936004
Longitude
Latitude
38.909565
(Decimal degrees)
-120.003553
(Decimal degrees)
Longitude
(Decimal degrees)
South Tahoe High:
-119.963777
(Decimal degrees)
(Decimal degrees)
South Tahoe Middle:
-120.020729
-119.976340
(Decimal degrees)
Longitude
-120.014857
(Decimal degrees)
3. Project Description
The project is for the development of a Safe Routes to School Master Plan for all six (6) schools
in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. The project will include extensive collaboration with
implementing agencies, the school district, parents and the communities surrounding the schools.
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The outcomes of the project will include a Master Plan that lays the blueprint for improving safety
for students who currently walk or bicycle to school and increasing the numbers of students who
walk, bicycle and take transit to school through the development of conceptual infrastructure
improvement plans, education curriculum, encouragement materials, improved enforcement
recommendations, and evaluation programs.
4. Project Status
This Lake Tahoe Unified School District Safe Routes to School Master Plan will build on the
outreach conducted over the past year with community members, local organizations, and the
school district. There has been no comprehensive Safe Routes to School planning or
implementation for these schools.
III. SCREENING CRITERIA
1. Demonstrated Needs of the Applicant
In the project area, there are many barriers to walking or biking to school. The schools within
the district lack basic infrastructure, including sidewalks and bike facilities. Families are unsure
about how to safely navigate and share the limited paved area with cars, pedestrian and bicyclists.
In May 2014, preliminary school assessments were conducted at four of the project schools:
Tahoe Valley Elementary School, Sierra House Elementary School, Bijou Community School, and the
Environmental Science Magnet School. School District staff, parents, and community members
reviewed infrastructure conditions and behaviors of drivers, pedestrians, and bicycles surrounding
the schools. The school assessments were followed up with an open house community meeting.
The findings of these assessments and the community meeting were that there is a strong
community and school desire to develop a comprehensive Safe Routes to School Master Plan that
will bring together agencies, stakeholders, the school district and community to identify feasible
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infrastructure improvements and develop programs to better educate and encourage safer behavior
and increased numbers of students who walk, bicycle, or take the district school bus to school.
Between 2008-2012, there were two youth-involved pedestrian collisions and 12 youth-involved
bicycle collisions within one mile of one or more of the schools in the district. None of the collisions
resulted in a fatality, though two severe injuries were sustained by victims. Improving infrastructure
and implementing programs in the district would result in a reduction of collisions.
This Safe Routes to School Master Plan presents the opportunity for the development of feasible
and practical infrastructure recommendations and programs built on a collaborative effort of the
City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, the South Lake Tahoe School District, parents and
other stakeholders.
2. Consistency with Regional Transportation Plan
The Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2012 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
identifies Segment 1 – SR 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project as a top priority. This
project has been in the RTP for over 20 years, and is RTP#X. Meeks Bay Bike Trail is RTP#X.
Segment 2 – South Lake Tahoe Greenway Shared Use Path is identified as priority project RTP#X.
Each of the shared-use path elements of the project are also identified in the 2010 Lake Tahoe
Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, and are part of the Lake Tahoe Bikeway, supporting the other Lake
Tahoe Bikeway projects submitted to ATP in this round.
IV. NARRATIVE QUESTIONS
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1. POTENTIAL FOR INCREASED WALKING AND BICYCLING
A. Describe how your project encourages increased walking/biking especially among students
The Safe Routes to School Plan will provide a blueprint for future infrastructure projects and
programs for the District’s schools specifically designed to increase the numbers of and the safety of
students who walk or bicycle to school. The Plan will include recommendations to improve the
physical environment which in itself will encourage walking and bicycling to school The Plan will
also include recommended education and encouragement programs tailored for each school.
It can be anticipated that the Safe Routes to School Plan’s combination of recommended
infrastructure projects and non-infrastructure programs will address parent concerns, educate
families about walking and bicycling to school and therefore increase the number of students
walking and bicycling to schools.
B. Describe the number and type of possible users and their destinations, and the anticipated
percentage increase in users upon completion of your project.
All of the students at each school who wish to walk or bike to school are possible users of the
improvements. As part of the Plan, enrollment heat maps of where families live in relation to the
school will be developed. From those heat maps, targeted encouragement marketing will be
developed to encourage families who live close to school to walk or bicycle. Table 1 shows the
attendance at each school.
Table 1: Student Attendance
School Name
Bijou Community School
Environmental Science Magnet School
Sierra House Elementary School
Tahoe Valley Elementary School
South Tahoe Middle School
South Tahoe High School
Lake Tahoe Unified School District Safe Routes to School Master Plan
Student
Attendance
578
384
503
433
787
1040
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A Safe Routes to School Plan will identify the number of students walking and biking to school
through parent surveys and student hand tallies. This information currently does not exist.
However, school administration reports there are many families who live within walking and
bicycling distance to school and there is opportunity to convert those car trips into walking and
bicycling trips. Additionally, the school district provides bus service.
Table 2 shows bus ridership from January 2013 to April 2014. School district staff expressed
that there is an opportunity to increase the numbers of students who take the school bus.
Table 2: Bus Ridership
School Name
Bijou Community School
Environmental Science Magnet School
Sierra House Elementary School
Tahoe Valley Elementary School
South Tahoe Middle School
South Tahoe High School
January
February
65
82
208
187
455
468
63
122
209
204
425
436
March
April
49
120
234
182
401
411
102
120
175
195
359
435
C. Describe how this project improves walking and bicycling routes to and from, connects to, or
is part of a school or school facility, transit facility, community center, employment center,
state or national trail system, points of interest, and/or park
The Safe Routes to School Plan will recommend projects that improve walking and bicycling
routes around the District’s schools. In addition to providing children with safer walking and
bicycling routes to schools, improvements may facilitate access to parks, community centers,
employment centers and other key community destinations.
D. Describe how this project increases and/or improves connectivity, removes a barrier to
mobility and/or closes a gap in a non-motorized facility.
The development of the Safe Routes to School Plan will include the identification of
opportunities to improve connectivity, remove barriers and close gaps in bicycle and pedestrian
facilities. The project team will work closely with the local agencies including the City of South
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Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County to ensure consensus and feasibility on recommended
infrastructure projects.
2. POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING THE NUMBER AND/OR RATE OF PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLIST
FATALITIES AND INJURIES
A. Describe the potential of the project to reduce ped and/or bicycle injuries or fatalities
According to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS), there were two
youth-involved pedestrian collisions and 12 youth-involved bicycle collisions within one mile of one
or more schools in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. There were no fatalities, though there
was one severe pedestrian injury and one severe bicyclist injury. Attachment E provides a summary
of four years of SWITRS collision data for the youth-involved bicycle and pedestrian collisions
within one mile of a school. The Safe Routes to School Plan will recommend projects that are proven
measures to increase safety and reduce bicycle and pedestrian collisions near schools.
B. Describe if/how your project will achieve safety benefits
The types of recommendations in Safe Routes to School Plans have proven effectiveness in
achieving safety benefits. The Plan will include a detailed collision analysis through SWITRS to
identify not only locations but other factors that contributed to the collisions. The report will
include the development of recommendations for proven countermeasures designed to improve
safety and will likely include sidewalks, improved crossing visibility, bikeways and similar
treatments that will give drivers greater awareness of students walking and biking.
Programs proposed in the Plan will complement the recommended infrastructure improvements
by giving residents the tools they need to safely and confidently walk and bike to school. Education
programs include outreach to students, parents, guardians, and drivers. Students will be taught
bicycle, pedestrian and traffic safety skills both in and out of the classroom. Adults will receive
information on transportation options and driving safely near schools. Encouragement programs not
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only make walking and biking to school more fun and appealing, they also raise awareness of
bicyclists and pedestrians’ presence on the roads. Enforcement programs provide students walking
and biking to school with greater safety associated with having trained crossing guards and police
officers enforcing the rules of the road.
C. Describe the location’s history of events and the source(s) of data used
Over the past year, a local organization, the Community Mobility Workgroup , has been
working closely with the schools to identify need. This work resulted in community consensus to
develop a district-wide Safe Routes to School Plan.
In 2014, four school site assessments were conducted to gather input on and measure
community needs. These assessments garnered parent enthusiasm and support for the development
of a Safe Routes to School Plan.
In addition to preliminary outreach and community support, collision data shows there were 14
youth-involved bicycle and pedestrian collisions within one mile of one or more schools within the
school district, which resulted in two severe injuries (data from the Statewide Integrated Records
System, SWITRS).
3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION and PLANNING
A. Describe the community based public participation process that culminated in the project
Two years ago, the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative was launched as part of the Lake
Tahoe Sustainable Communities Program (LTSCP). The Safe Routes to Schools project proposed
here was identified through the Community Mobility Workgroup’s (A local community
organization) fforts building to the year-long, increasingly formal, technical, and inclusive
assessment and engagement process described below.
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Over the past year, the Community Mobility Workgroup of the Lake Tahoe Sustainability
Collaborative has been working closely with the schools , meeting and conducting site visits with
City and School District staff to identify needs and potential improvements at our four elementary
schools, middle school, and high school. The culmination of these efforts was the school
assessments and community-wide meeting held in May 2014. The group prepared flyers (English
and Spanish) inviting parents, students, and teachers to the events and provided a write-in and online
questionnaire for those who could not attend. Spanish and sign language translation was provided at
the community-wide meeting and the largest media outlet, the Tahoe Daily Tribune, wrote two
stories and attended the large meeting. Input was received from over 60 parents, students, staff, and
community members, including a broad range of socioeconomic levels. This year-long processes
resulted in the finding that a District-Wide SRTS Master Plan is the necessary next step.
Additionally, a “Lake Tahoe Bikeway Partnership” ad hoc group met in mid-May 2014. The key
outcome was an agreement on how to collaboratively proceed with multiple ATP grant applications
from Tahoe region. The group agreed that this Safe Routes to School Master Plan application is the
top priority in the SRTS category.
The Tahoe Transportation District is committed to work with the Community Mobility
Workgroup and continue its work with the City, County, school district, parents, and community
members to implement this grant and future SRTS construction grants; as well as pursuing other
funding sources that may be available with the District-Wide Master Plan and prioritized projects
that would result.
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B. Is the project cost over $1 Million? Y/N
No
4. COST EFFECTIVENESS
A. Describe the alternatives that were considered. Discuss the relative costs and benefits of all
the alternatives and explain why the nominated one was chosen.
The alternative that was considered was for no project. The option to create a Safe Routes to
School Plan was chosen to provide a comprehensive approach to improving walking and bicycling
in the school district.
B. Calculate the ratio of the benefits of the project relative to both the total project cost and funds
requested
The total project cost of $110, 420 will provide great benefit to the not only the school
community but the broader community surrounding the six project schools. A ratio of benefits to
project cost and funds is challenging to calculate because the request is for a planning project rather
than implementation of infrastructure projects or programs. However, a successful planning
process will develop recommendations that have broad support and will be grant ready for
implementation. In addition, the recommended education, encouragement and evaluation programs
can be low cost yet effective programs to increase safety and increase numbers of students who
walk and bicycle to school.
5. IMPROVED PUBLIC HEALTH
A. Describe how the project will improve public health
The project addresses physical inactivity, obesity, and other health concerns associated with a
lack of active transportation. The CDC recommends that children and adolescents should have 60
minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity daily.1 In El Dorado County, 26% of children under 18
1
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/physicalactivity/guidelines.htm
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are overweight for their age2 and 31% of children under 18 missed one or more days of school due to
asthma in the past 12 months.3 The infrastructure and programs recommendations in the proposed
Safe Routes to School Plan can substantially increase walking and bicycling, encouraging students
and families to have more active lifestyles, reducing health concerns as well as reducing vehicle trips
and resultant air quality emissions.
6. BENEFIT TO DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES
A. I. Is the project located in a disadvantaged community?
Yes
II. Does the project significantly benefit a disadvantaged community?
Yes
 Median household income for the community benefited by the project: $41,4454, less than
80% of the statewide household median income
 CalEnvironScreen score: 9.5 (for zip code 96150)
 Percentage of students eligible for the Free or Reduced Price Meals Programs: 19-81%
The area within the Lake Tahoe Unified School District is a disadvantaged community due to
two schools, Bijou Community School and Tahoe Valley Elementary School, having higher than 75
percent of students eligible for free lunches. In addition, the City of South Lake Tahoe’s median
household income is less than 80 percent of the statewide median household income.
7. USE OF CALIFORNIA CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) OR A CERTIFIED COMMUNITY
CONSERVATION CORPS
A. The applicant has coordinated with the CCC to identify how a state conservation corps can be
a partner of the project. Y
Submitted to: Virginia Clark, Virginia.Clark@ccc.ca.gov, (916) 341-3147, submitted 5/15/2014.
2
http://www.kidsdata.org/topic/562/student-obesity-overweight-obese/table#fmt=758&loc=345&tf=46
3
Data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) website: healthpolicy.ucla.edu/chis/Pages/default.aspx
4
ACS 5-year estimate, compared to the statewide median household income for California is $61,400.
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B. The applicant has coordinated with a representative from the California Association of Local
Conservation Corps (CALCC) to identify how a certified community conservation corps can be
a partner of the project. Y
Submitted to: calocalcorps@gmail.com, submitted 5/15/2014.
C. The applicant intends to utilize the CCC or a certified community conservation corps on all
items where participation is indicated? Y/N
I have contacted a representative of the CCC; and they have declined to participate.
I have contacted a representative of the CALCC; but they have not yet responded.
8. APPLICANT’S PERFORMANCE ON PAST GRANTS
The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD), created by Article IX of the Tahoe Regional Planning
Compact (Compact - PL 96-551), is authorized to own and operate a public transportation system,
acquire existing public transportation systems, hire public transportation employees, fix rates and
charges for transit services, issue revenue bonds, and, by resolution, determine and propose a tax for
the purposes of obtaining services of the district. Through this authority, the TTD has, and
continues to successfully receive and administer state, regional, and federal grant funds
administered by numerous public agencies including, but not limited to the TMPO, State of Nevada,
State of California, FHWA, and FTA. In regards to Caltrans Office of Local Assistance, TTD has an
existing Master Fund Transfer Agreement (MA # 64A0125) for the administration of federal
assistance funding through the Caltrans.
Furthermore, TTD undergoes an annual audit including a “single audit” due to the fact TTD
receives and expends $500,000 or more of Federal awards in a year in accordance with the Single
Audit Act Amendments of 1996 OMB Circular A-133, the OMB Circular Compliance Supplement
and Government Auditing Standards. Collectively, the FY 2013 audit disclosed “no findings
required to be reported under paragraph .510(a) of OMB Circular A-133, therefore, TTD continues to
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be in good standing as a recipient of federal assistance funding. Audit reports, grant agreements,
and any other information required to assist in this grant request are available upon request.
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