Safe Routes to School
The recently-passed SAFETEA-LU* transportation reauthorization legislation includes a new, national Safe Routes to School program.
This new program will enable and encourage primary and secondary school children to walk and bicycle to school. Both infrastructure-related and behavioral projects will be geared toward providing a safe, appealing environment for walking and biking that will improve the quality of our children’s lives and support national health objectives by reducing traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.
The legislation makes available $612 million in Federal funds over five fiscal years. Each state will receive a portion of the funds based on its percentage of the national total of school-aged children in grades K – 8, but not less than $1 million each year.