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California

Marin County, California, Walk to School Day

California SRTS State Network
California is one of ten jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership Network Project. This initiative creates state networks that bring together advocacy groups, public agencies, nonprofits, and other leaders.

California Safe Routes To School Programs
Managed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California administers two separate Programs: the State-legislated SR2S Program and the federally-legislated SRTS Program. For information on the two Safe Routes to School funding Programs and contact information, go to: www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LocalPrograms/saferoutes/saferoutes.htm. NOTE: this website is in the process of being updated so meantime, contact Joyce Parks, Safe Routes to School Coordinator (contact information is shown below).

Success Stories and Best Practices

Other Statewide and Regional Programs

California Partner Affiliates
Find out which organizations in your state have pledged their support as partner affiliates of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

Legislation and Policies

California SRTS State Network
California is one of the ten jurisdictions participating in the SRTS National Partnership State Network Project. The California SRTS State Network Organizer works for a sponsoring organization, which is under contract with the SRTS National Partnership.

California State Network Organizer
Brooke Driesse, Program Associate
SRTS National Partnership
(619) 272-0097
brooke@saferoutespartnership.org
www.saferoutespartnership.org

California State Network Chair
Deb Hubsmith, Director
SRTS National Partnership
(415) 454-7430
deb@saferoutespartnership.org
www.saferoutespartnership.org

California State Network Partners
Active Living Research, San Diego State University Foundation
Alta Planning + Design
Association of Cities, Counties, and Schools Partnership
CA Center for Physical Activity, CDPH
Calfiornia State PTA
California Bicycle Coalition
California Center for Cities & Schools
California League of Cities
California Office of Traffic Safety 
California WALKS
CalPED, Senior Action Network: SF WALKS
Caltrans Local Assistance, SRTS
CaltransTribal Affairs
Center for Civic Participation & Youth Development
Chief of Staff, California State Assembly Member Nell Soto
Injury Prevention & Control, CDPH
Kaiser Community Health Initiative
LA Unified School District
Local Government Commission 
Operation LifeSaver
PPHPartners
Prevention Institute
Rails to Trails Conservancy
SF Municipal Transportation Authority
Solano Transportation Authority
Transportation and Land Use Coalition (Bay Area)
UCB Traffic Safety Center
WalkSacramento
WalkSanDiego

California SRTS Programs
California’s Safe Routes to School program is managed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

Caltrans SRTS Coordinator
Joyce Parks
(916) 653-6920
joyce_parks@dot.ca.gov
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LocalPrograms/saferoutes/saferoutes.htm 

California SRTS Federal Funding
California’s SRTS federal funding totals $67,533,954 and includes the following annual apportionments:

Applications, Guidelines & Project Awards
Federal SRTS Funds
The final call for federal grant applications for the 2009 funds was announced on April 25, 2008 with $46M available and an application submittal deadline of July 18, 2008.  Results were announced from the call on October 8, 2008 with a total of 401 applications requesting a total of $191M submitted.  From that pool, 121 applications were selected for the $46M available. Caltrans completed the Cycle 1 call for federal projects (encompassing years 2005 through 2008 of the federal funding Act) in fall 2006 and announced selected projects in June 2007 with $44.84M available.

State SR2S Funds
A call for Cycle 8 applications is expected to be announced by the end of this calendar year with an anticipated $24.25M.  A call for projects in Cycle 7 of the state-legislated SR2S Program (included FY 2006-07 and 2007-08) was announced in August 2007. The deadline for applications was November 16, 2007 with an extension to November 30, 2007 granted for the seven counties affected by the October wildfires. A total of 489 applications requesting a total of $206,462,813 were received for the $52M available; 139 of the applications were funded. The approved list of selected projects can be viewed here. 

State Advisory Committee
The California SR2S Advisory Committee reports to Caltrans and was originally established to oversee the California SR2S program that launched in 2000 with the passage of the first-ever statewide SRTS bill. The current advisory committee includes representatives from: the California Department of Education, the California Department of Public Health, the California Highway Patrol, cities, counties, advocacy organizations, and key Caltrans staff. There may be a need to expand the committee in the future.

The Advisory Committee helped develop the SRTS federal application guidelines and worked with sub-committees to evaluate and recommend selected projects for funding in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2. The Advisory Committee meets on an as-needed basis.  The Advisory Committee has also met with Caltrans to recommend changes to the Caltrans process as knowledge is gained with each cycle.

State Outreach Programs
The Caltrans SRTS Coordinator provided SRTS training for the Cycle 1 federal program in each of the twelve Caltrans districts. These trainings were free and open to all eligible applicants. There are plans to take advantage of the second of two free training courses being offered through the National Center for Safe Routes to School and employ a consultant who will conduct the bulk of statewide outreach on a one-time basis.

Evaluation Methods
In Cycle 1 a “Before/After Study Report” form is sent to the grantee at the time of award. This report asks for a number and percentage count of existing (before) and increased (after) bicycling and walking and should be submitted after the project is completed. In Cycle 2 grantees must electronically complete and submit the Student Tally form and the Parent Survey developed by the National Center for SRTS. The tally and survey must be completed within two months prior to project implementation during the regular school year, and two months after implementation and sent in hard copy to the National Center for SRTS.

Marin County, California: Local Funding Model
The Transportation Authority of Marin’s Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) program is currently in 43 schools in Marin County, California, serving 18,000 students including almost all public elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools, as well as a few private schools. There are teams in each school run by either parents or students, with a teacher advisor who organizes encouragement programs. Trained instructors teach pedestrian and bicycle safety curriculum as well as health and environmental lessons.

In November of 2004, Marin County voters passed Measure A, a 20-year transportation sales tax that included 11% of the funding, or $36 million for Marin’s Safe Routes to School program. This local funding allows the County to serve all grade levels, including high school.

Contact:
Wendi Kallins
Program Director, Safe Routes to Schools
(415) 488-4101
wendi@marinbike.org
http://www.saferoutestoschools.org/index.html

California Center for Physical Activity: Education, Encouragement and Enforcement
California Department of Public Health’s Center for Physical Activity and State and Local Injury Control Section were jointly awarded a multi-year SRTS non-infrastructure grant to provide technical assistance and training for SRTS education, encouragement, and enforcement programs state-wide. The website is under development. The center works through strategic alliances with physical activity experts, local health departments, community-based organizations and like-minded public- and private-sector partners. Other California Center for Physical Activity projects include:

California Walk to School Headquarters
Healthy Transportation Network
Home Zones
Local Public Health and the Built Environment Network
School Siting and Joint-Use Facilities
Walkable Community Workshops

California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
CHIS is a comprehensive source of health information in California.  CHIS data are used by legislators, policy makers, local health departments, state agencies, community organizations, advocacy groups, foundations, researchers, and many others. 

Legislation and Policies

Take Action Today to Improve Walking and Bicycling in the Next Federal Transportation Bill:
Provide Senator Boxer with Your Comments - October 2008
Senator Boxer is looking for input from Californians about their priorities for the next transportation bill. We encourage you to take a few moments to encourage the Senator—who serves as the Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which is charged with developing the next transportation bill—to recognize the importance of walking and bicycling to our nation’s transportation system.  To provide your own comment, please visit the Senator’s website at: http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/feedback.cfm.   The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has submitted comments urging the Senator to focus on four priority areas in the next transportation bill.  Click here to view them.

AB32 Scoping Plan - November 2008
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is encouraging organizations and agencies to submit comments on the California Air Resources Board’s (ARB) Scoping Plan for AB32, which should reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the State of California to1990 levels by the year 2020.  Click here (.pdf, 2393KB) to see the letter submitted by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership in November 2008.

Safe Routes to School and school siting are important issues that ARB should include within their scoping plan both for funding allocations through the cap and trade program, and well as for requirements for the regional target plans.  Schools play a major role in how communities are designed, and how local traffic is generated, with its corresponding VMT and carbon emissions.  Without improved land use, increased vehicle miles traveled will prevent the state of California from achieving the 2020 emission reduction goals. 

Additionally, technological solutions will not provide the co-benefits that improved land use can have such as promoting active, healthy lifestyles and reducing obesity-related illnesses that are exacerbated due to a lack of opportunity for healthy physical activity, such as diabetes. Click here (.pdf) to see the detailed letter with calculations submitted by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership in July 2008.

ARB just posted the new Scoping Plan on their website.  Download the new Scoping Plan here
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/document/scopingplandocument.htm.

California SR2S Bill
In 1999, California approved the first statewide Safe Routes to School bill (AB 1475). The bill established a “one-third” distribution formula for federal safety funds to be allocated in equal amounts to: state highways, local roads, and Safe Routes to School (SRTS) construction program. Funds for the California SRTS program are distributed through a statewide competition and are used for the construction near schools of bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic calming projects such as sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, and intersection improvements. The Caltrans report (.pdf download) summarizes the success of the first six years of the state’s SRTS program in increasing walking and bicycling to schools.

Subsequent SRTS bills in 2002 (SB 10) and in 2004 (SB 1087) extended the program through its current sunset date of January 1, 2008. The current SRTS bill, AB 57, extends California’s SRTS program indefinitely, but ongoing appropriations for the state program must be considered each year as part of the state budget process.

AB 57 Update
On Sunday October 14, 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB57, California's 2007 Safe Routes to School bill. The bill is extremely important as it:  1) enables $52 million in existing state SR2S funding to be spent after January 1, 2008 (the date that the current SR2S bill expires), 2) allows for federal SR2S funds to be swapped for state funds (easing administration burdens on local agencies), and 3) creates a framework for state SRTS funding to be included in the state budget.  In September 2008, the Governor adopted California's fiscal year 08-09 budget, which includes $24.25M for the State SR2S funds.

AB 321 - Helps reduce school zone traffic speeds
On January 1, 2008, a new law took effect that will help bring down traffic speeds in school zones. This law, authored by Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara), enables local government to extend school zones to 1000 feet and reduce the speed limit within 500 feet of a school site to 15 mph at schools that are located in residential areas, or on highways with a speed limit of 30 mph or less.

At 15 mph, most pedestrians will survive a crash, often sustaining only minor injuries. Yet minor increases in impact speed have a profound effect on crash severity. At 20 mph, most pedestrian crashes result in serious injury, and almost half are fatal. At 40 mph, 90% of crashes are fatal. Reducing traffic speeds will enable more children to walk or bike to school safely.

This law is voluntary.  In order to benefit from it, parents and school administrators need to go to their city councils, or county boards of supervisors, if living outside city limits, and ask them to enact this law at qualifying schools. 

The following cities/counties/schools have adopted AB321: City of Goleta, Santa Barbara County, Taylor School and Alvin School in Santa Maria, Lompoc, and Casmalia.

AB321 Text
AB321 Interim Policy
City of Goleta Sample Resolution - Part 1
City of Goleta Sample Resolution - Part 2
Guide for Parents and Government Staff on How to Implement AB321

School Siting
The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Healthy School Siting applied for a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to continue with their school siting work with the California Department of Education, and was notified in August 2008 that California was one of five states chosen.  The Ad-Hoc Coalition will use the grant to continue conversations with the California Department of Education, perform more research on healthy school siting in California, and provide specific recommendations on updates for the state school facility planning documents.

The SRTS State Network formed The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Healthy School Siting, made up of a group of organizations - including Center for Cities & Schools; Cities Counties Schools Partnership; Local Government Commission; Prevention Institute; the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and Strategic Alliance. This group spearheaded an effort to research and write a letter to the California Department of Education, urging them to revise current regulatory requirement with respect to school siting while they are undergoing their current document revisions. Over forty California-based organizations signed on in support of the letter, which outlines the effects of school siting on student’s learning environments, community design, sprawl or the preservation of agricultural lands, and the ability for children to walk and bicycle to schools.

Other State & Regional Policies
Caltrans Deputy Directive 64: Within Caltrans, Deputy Directive 64 requires all department projects to consider the accommodation of non-motorized modes in developing a project. The directive was signed in October 2008.

Complete Streets AB1358: On September 30, 2008, Governor Schwarzeneggar signed the California Complete Streets Act of 2008 into law, which was authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).  The new law requires cities and counties to include complete streets policies as part of their general plans so that roadways are designed to safely accommodate all users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit riders, children, older people, and disabled people, as well as motorists.

Student Wellness: California has multi-pronged student wellness efforts including school district adoption of a school wellness policy.

Education Curriculum: The California State Department of Public Health has been awarded a SRTS grant to develop statewide walking and bicycling to school curriculum, training and technical assistance.

Fine-based Funding: Three counties in California tested the impact of doubling fines for traffic violations in school zones. Efforts to institute a statewide Double Fines in School Zones law are being pursued.

State Highway Safety Program (SHSP): Making Walking and Street Crossing Safer, Challenge Area 8, includes support for safe routes to school programs as one of its strategies. Improving Bicycling Safety is Challenge Area 13 and also includes a mention of safe routes to school. As part of the Strategic Highway Safety Implementation Plan, actions to implement safety strategies aimed at reducing the walking and bicycling 20 percent of all traffic fatalities are in the process of development.

Bike/Ped Facilities (Bay Area):  Regionally, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Routine Accommodation Checklist with Guidance, is required to be completed, showing that the need for walking, bicycling and ADA facilities has been considered in each Bay Area Transportation project using funds administered by or through the MTC.