Safe Routes to School
Pre-Application meetings are mandatory! Learn more and sign up here.
The Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) program provides funds for projects and activities meant to enable and encourage children in grades K-12 to walk and bicycle safely to school.
Program Benefits
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Enable and encourage children in grades K-12, including those with disabilities, to walk and bike to school.
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Make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.
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Facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution near schools.
Selection Criteria
Supporting Policies
Benefitting school has a written policy supporting walking and bicycling to school, including a School Wellness Policy; the LPA has adopted a Complete Streets Policy; or the LPA Master Plan includes bicycle and pedestrian elements.
Other Transportation Modes
A railroad crossing or highway ramp crossing will be improved as part of the project.
Improve Connections
Connects to an existing local or regional bicycle or pedestrian network.
Improve Safety
Improvements enhance the safety students walking or bicycling to school.
Increase Walking & Bicycling
Impact to mode choice which may increase the number of students walking or bicycling to school.
Community Support
Community Support from those other than the applicant and local elected officials.
Equity
Demonstrate a commitment to promote equity by prioritizing projects that demonstrate fair distribution of benefits.
Project Profile
Margate SRTS Infrastructure Improvement, Margate City
The Margate SRTS Infrastructure Improvement Plan was developed to create safe walking and bicycling routes to the William H. Ross Elementary School and Eugene A. Tighe Middle School in Margate. The June 2015 Margate School Travel Plan identified walking routes along Amherst Avenue, Huntington Avenue, Winchester Avenue, and Monmouth Avenue, but also identified three “problematic intersections” due to their confusing geometry and lack of pedestrian elements. Each intersection was skewed with multiple legs and large turning radii that enable high speed vehicle turns and also lacked pedestrian features such as crosswalks, curb ramps, and signage on most legs. Pedestrian improvements were developed for the intersections of Fulton/North Huntington, Amherst/North Huntington, and Amherst/Gladstone, including median islands to calm traffic, improve visibility, and shorten crossing distances; high-visibility crosswalks across all intersecting legs; and additional stop control for both intersecting and through streets. These improvements create a safer and more predictable environment for children who wish to walk or bike to both schools. They also facilitate better crossing guard safety and management at the two intersections where crossing guards are located (Amherst/North Huntington and Amherst/Gladstone).
Safe Routes to School Design Assistance
The Division of Local Aid & Economic Development aims to help ensure NJ Local Public Agencies can successfully deliver a federally funded project by removing the burden of selecting qualified consultants and paying for those consultant services from the LPA. The SRTS Design Assistance Program makes consultant engineering services available to SRTS grant recipients.
SRTS Design Assistance Program Highlights:
- All recipients of the SRTS grants are eligible to participate, but not required.
- Costs, fees, and contracts for the work to be performed must be negotiated by the LPA and the firm of their choice with approval by the Division of Local Aid & Economic Development.
- Eligible design costs, up to $750,000 will be reimbursed.
Consultants for FY 2022 Grants
Information is available below for the four firms in the 2022 consultant pool:
Program Resources
How to Apply for a Federal Project
Applications must be made through the SAGE system. Instructions are available. The major components are the Scope of Work, explaining how the project meets each of the criteria, and the Data Sheet. All applications must include maps and photos are encouraged to show expected project achievements. All applications are scored based in part on the online applications and supporting documentation. Sign up for the Safe Routes to School newsletter here for more information!