AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET
DEPARTMENT: Transportation
CM/ DCM/ ACM: Mario Canizares
DATE: September 19, 2017
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SUBJECT
Title
Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding the federal Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) and the City of Denton SRTS Plan.
Body
BACKGROUND
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a federal program begun in 2005 with the approved transportation bill Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The goal of the bill was to enable and encourage children to walk or bike to school, to make walking and biking to school more appealing, and to assist in the planning and construction of projects that increase safety in the vicinity of school. As a standalone program, $613 million was allocated for SRTS over five years (FY2005-2009) to state Departments of Transportation. The bill was extended for two more years at an additional $183 million per year for FY2010-2012.
In 2012 Congress passed the transportation bill Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). This bill moved the SRTS from a standalone program to the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), which included recreational trails and biking and walking projects. Instead of its own pot of money, SRSTS now competed against trail and active transportation projects for funding. A little over $800 million was allocated each year for FY2013 and FY 2014, to be divided between three programs - SRTS, recreational trails, and biking and walking projects.
A new transportation bill was approved in 2015 for five years, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). This bill preserved funding for SRTS projects, while changing the program name from TAP to Transportation Alternatives-Set Aside (TA-Set Aside). SRTS projects would still compete with other bike and walking projects, however states could decide to have one Call for Proje...
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