The US DOT recently enacted a rule that will require states and metropolitan planning organizations to set targets for bicycle and pedestrian safety. Targeted and effective interventions will be needed to achieve desired progress in reducing fatalities and injuries.
The Safe Routes Partnership and the YMCA of the USA recently released Making Strides: 2016 State Report Cards on Support for Walking, Bicycling, Active Kids and Communities. These report cards have an entire section devoted to state funding for Safe Routes to School, bicycling and walking that provides important information for advocates.
When we talk about federal transportation dollars in this space, we most often focus on the Transportation Alternatives Program, since it has a strong focus on funding Safe Routes to School programs and bicycling and walking infrastructure.
The Safe Routes Partnership submitted our official comments for the record on May 16. Read our comments here.
What the US Department of Transportation chooses to measure has an impact on which transportation projects get built in your state and community—and on your ability to feel safe while walking and bicycling to school and in your neighborhood.
At a recent grantmaking conference, one of the speakers emphasized the role of evaluation by saying that if you can’t measure something, it doesn’t matter. Thanks to a new rule from the US Department of Transportation, all states will now be required to measure and be held accountable for bicycle and pedestrian safety.
While Congress passed the new transportation law, the FAST Act, back in December, it takes time for US Department of Transportation to update their complicated formulas for how much states and localities get for various programs. Fortunately, that work is done and we now know the state-by-state breakdown of funding available for Safe Routes to School, bicycling and walking projects.
