Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
Florida’s 2021 – 2025 Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP)
July 20, 2021
Teen Traffic Safety Education: “The decisions you make while driving add up.”
August 26, 2021
Safe Route to Schools (SRTS)
Florida's Safe Routes to School initiatives help communities address their school transportation needs and encourage more students to walk or cycle to school. SRTS strives to enable and encourage students in grades Kindergarten through High School, including those with disabilities, to walk and cycle to school; to make walking and biking to school safer and more appealing; and to facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. In addition to encouraging more students to walk or cycle to school, the program also seeks to address the safety needs of students already walking or biking in less than ideal conditions.
Resources are available for each community and each school to develop their own program. A successful SRTS Program integrates health, physical activity and fitness, traffic relief, environmental awareness, and safety under one program. Programs should encompass routes and techniques used to encourage students to walk or cycle to or from school. We encourage schools, local transportation officials and other qualified groups to cooperate and apply for funding to supplement local resources.
Education
Safe Routes to School Tampa Bay is a great resource for your community walking school bus/bicycle train program. Here you can find which schools are participating in the Safe Routes to School program this year, as well as many pedestrian and bicycle safety resources.
Infrastructure
The Florida Department of Transportation is now again accepting applications for sidewalk infrastructure projects serving elementary, middle and high schools throughout Tampa Bay. School applicants will also need to partner with a Maintaining Agency to own and operate the infrastructure after it is built. A Maintaining Agency is a government agency which is able to:
- Enter into a legal agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation
- Design and/or construct the project in accordance with all federal requirements,
- Provide the initial funding for the project before being reimbursed, and maintain the completed Infrastructure project
The application process is competitive and is managed by the FDOT District 7 Safety Office.
Program information for Florida Safe Routes to School can be viewed by clicking here.
SRTS Infrastructure Project Applications may now be completed online using a web-based application portal. Sponsor agencies are encouraged to use the online portal to submit applications. The portal allows you to complete the application incrementally and return to, collaborate with others working on the same application, as well as upload supporting information and attachments to a central location that is accessible remotely via the web.
Visit the resources section below for more information.
Resources
Questions?
For application questions contact:
Sara Beresheim, P.E., PTOE
Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, Inc.
813.868.6513
sberesheim@jmt.com
