Safe Routes to School Program

The Safe Routes to School Program was created by the U.S. Congress as part of a federal transportation bill called SAFETEA-LU. The primary reason for developing this nationwide program is this country's growing epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes. One of the courses of the epidemic is children's inability to get physical activity -- biking and walking to school - due to the lack of safe and convenient ways to do so. To this end, Safe Routes was created to accomplish three goals:

1. To enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities to walk and bicycle to school;
2. To make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age; and
3. To facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution near schools. 

The program accomplishes this by providing funds for schools and communities to implement infrastructure projects (such as sidewalk improvements, trails, and 'traffic calming') and non-infrastructure programs (such as education campaigns, law enforcement efforts, and prize giveaways).

Safe Routes To School is a reimbursement program -- not a grant program.  This means that the selected applicants will be entitled to request reimbursements from ADOT for an amount agreed upon at the time of selection. The applicant first must spend funds that it already has secured -- ADOT will not provide up-front cash. Any work on the project that was performed prior to the project's selection is not eligible for reimbursement.

There are two main criteria that will determine if your school and your project are eligible for funding under the Safe Routes To School Program:

• Program funding is only for elementary and middle schools;
• Programs and projects must be within a 2-mile radius of the school.

Program Goals
To enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school; to make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age; and to facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.