Transcript Safe Routes to School - Florida Association for Pupil

School-based projects from a
Transportation Act program
Federal master transportation act
 Funded by gas taxes
 Included roadway construction and
maintenance funding
 Safety project funds
 “Enhancement” funding for trails and
sidewalks
 First time: Safe Routes to School
program


To encourage children, K-12, including the
disabled, to walk and ride bikes to school
◦ Obesity cited as a major concern
•Florida Child Obesity (age 2-19):
18.3%
•Adult: 26% and rising
•Physically Active Florida Children
(Age 6-17): 34.1%
•Increasing health care costs
• shortened lifespan
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:
2011
Funding began in 2005
 Funding flexibility
70-90% infrastructure
Sidewalks, trails, traffic calming,
bike storage
10-30% non-infrastructure
Education, outreach, promotion


Between 2005 and 2012 over $55 million

Cost of 1 mile 5’ sidewalk – generic $120,355
expected lifetime, 50 years

Cost of 1 mile 12’ shared use path $237,185
expected lifetime, 30 years
Focus on schools, new to DOT
FDOT studies include preliminary design
and engineering (PD&E) phase
 PD&E manual barely mentions schools
 Pedestrian and bike accommodation, part
of the PD&E process
***
 By statute, hazardous walking condition
requires responsible agency to address
the condition within a reasonable time

School transportation comes in
many flavors
Program development
Infrastructure projects, local
applications—filtered for constructability
 Non-infrastructure—more difficult to find
and carry out
 All projects aimed to encourage change

Competing ideas
about children walking or biking
Culture of cars
Culture of flexibility in
mobility
 Dependence on Others  Independence
 World is essentially
 World is complex
unsafe
 Generational changes
 Past was different but
instructive


ONE MEDIUM-SIZED
COUNTY
•
49 Schools for 41,000 students
•
295 School buses transport 23,000 students daily
•
10,000 bus stops
•
29,000 miles per day/5.39 million miles per year
•
Transportation Costs: $19.5 Million/year
Saving money when funds are tight
Ending courtesy busing, using depot systems
A little about infrastructure (Needs)
Many needs for pedestrian facilities
 Challenges

◦ Right of way
◦ Drainage impacts (environmental)
◦ Local opinions
Eustis
Eustis Heights
Some sample projects
Walking to School kits
Better bike racks
Non-infrastructure and bike
parking
Why Kids Don’t Walk to School
Factors affecting parents’ decision to let children walk to school:
•Distance (52%)
•Safety crossings (42%)
•Weather/climate (41%)
•Presence of sidewalks/pathways(38%)
•Traffic volume(36%)
•Speed along route(35%)
- teaching children to act in
ways that can be recognized
- encouraging bright clothing,
reflectivity or light; walking in groups
Security -- Surveys uncover
attitudes

Concerns about
◦ Bullying, verbal and physical threat, 32% of 12-18
year olds report being bullied
◦ Gangs—23% report gangs in schools
◦ Personal violent crime—though reported,
significant decrease over past 10 years
◦ Abduction—2% are non-family, most are missing
for other reasons (lost, injured, stranded)
Diverse counter measures to avoid these situations
Overview of countermeasures
Teach children to speak up
 Help children to be street smart
 Involve families in designing safe strategies
 Encourage groups
 Practice with adult supervision

Long term benefit, independent ‘free range’
young people
Walking school buses
Success depends on community
characteristics, one size doesn’t fit all
 Simple beginnings sometimes are best
 Organized volunteers and coordinators
 Small incentives for participating

Bike trains

Suitable for older students
http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/walking_school_bus/index.cfm
DOT resources

http://www.hhp.ufl.edu/safety/
◦ Contacts for bike and ped teacher training

http://www.pedbikesrc.ce.ufl.edu/
◦ Many safety and best practice handouts: tip
sheets, pamphlets, curriculum guides, small
items for promotion
Coming soon

Workshops around Florida about walking
school bus techniques
http://www.pednet.org/programs/
Contact FDOT SRTS coordinator for
details
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/safety/SRTS_files/SRTS.shtm
Big Picture – long range
coordination among agencies
Source: Ruth Steiner, Ph.D, UF, 2006)
WHAT WE NEED FROM
SCHOOLS
Information, collaborative planning
Annual information about hazardous walking
conditions
 School representation during PD&E studies
for new projects
 Participation in transportation planning
process at MPO
 Coordination during school site selection and
design (early and often)

Joan Carter, FDOT, District Five
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
DeLand, 32720 (386) 943-5335