Safe Routes to School Program
Children are at a disadvantage and have limited transportation options. Too young to drive, they must rely on an adult to drive them or on other forms of transportation to get around such as transit, carpooling, bicycling and walking. The majority of children are driven to school in Monterey County which is one of the leading causes of traffic congestion on local roads in the morning and afternoon. Chaotic drop-off zones in front of schools caused by increased driving creates an unsafe environment for students walking and bicycling.
The Measure X Safe Routes to School program is aimed at:
- Developing better and safer options than driving the majority of children to school;
- Educating children and the surrounding community how to safely walk and bicycle; and
- Encouraging children to use active transportation that will lead to a healthier lifestyle.
In February 2018, the Transportation Agency Board adopted the Measure X Safe Routes to School Program Guidelines which provides a vision and goals for the program, and identifies a balanced strategy for implementation.
Measure X Safe Routes to School Program GuidelinesActive Projects
Salinas Safe Routes to School Plan
Every Child: Community-Supported Safe Routes to School
Seaside & Marina Safe Routes to School Plan – ADOPTED February 2020!
MY Town
Blue Zones Project – Monterey County
Program Overview
Goals (6 E’s)
The Program goals are divided into 6 categories Evaluation, Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Equity.
Task Force
A Safe Routes to School Task Force will meet quarterly to provide recommendations to staff and facilitate collaboration with agencies and organizations around the county pursuing similar goals of child safety and health.
Countywide Collaboration
Collaboration with other agencies working towards safe routes to school objectives is an important goal of the program and critical to achieving a deep and comprehensive impact.
Programs
The various Safe Routes to School Programs are designed to achieve each of the 6 E’s goals (Evaluation, Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Equity)
Funding
The Program is funded through local transportation sales tax Measure X, which will provide the most consistent source of funding for the program over the next 30 years. Measure X funding will be leveraged as much as possible to bring-in other sources of local, state and federal funding to achieve the vision and goals of the Program.
Budget
This section identifies the Program budget for fiscal years 2018 – 2023 as well as priority projects that will be the focus of grant applications, planning, programming and construction.
Safe Routes to School Resource Hub – coming soon!
The Monterey County Safe Routes to School Resource Hub will be maintained by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County. Transportation Agency staff will work with school districts to provide links to the Online Safe Routes to School Resource Hub from school district websites and/or individual school webpages.
The website will include the following information:
- Countywide Safe Routes to School Program information (guidelines, application forms and annual reports)
- Listing of Active Safe Routes to School Programs in Monterey County
- School Pool Portal and information
- Listing of Safe Routes to School plans and infrastructure projects
- Seaside & Marina Safe Routes to School Plan Information
- Safe Routes to School Program Resources
The website will be launched in Winter 2020..