Welcome to the Winter 2009 issue of The Safe Routes Scoop.

 

Economic downturn, recession, depression. These are the words that are dominating the news and are on everyone’s minds. Throughout the nation, everybody is feeling the pinch of tough economic realities.

 

Enabling and encouraging children to walk or bike to school can provide financial savings to both families and school systems. The economic benefits of a trip to school on foot can be significant, as walking is always cheaper than increasing parking capacity, dealing with local traffic congestion and providing school busing services. Students, staff and parents, particularly those with lower incomes, often value having improved transportation choices – especially when those choices can lead to better health (and fewer trips to the doctor’s office).

 

In this issue of Safe Routes Scoop, we examine how SRTS can address today’s tough economic realities. The elimination of busing is targeted in “Shrinking Budgets Bring Busing Blues.”  In “Simple and Safe Ways to Stroll to School,” we focus on how to provide added levels of safety along school routes without a lot of coordination or a full “walking” program.  In “Crossing Guards Rule the Road,” we describe the important role crossing guards play in protecting our kids - often in difficult situations.

NJDOT has recently announced the recipients of the FY 2008 federal-aid

SRTS grants. A little over $4 million was awarded to projects in 33 municipalities statewide. Great things will happen with this money, but this is still a drop in the bucket when you note that schools and towns submitted applications worth over $44 million. Several worthwhile projects remain unfunded, only because there is not enough money to go around. To help overcome this, NJDOT and its SRTS partners will continue to do all we can to assist anyone who wants to make a difference with training and programs that go beyond the grants.

 

There’s not much we can do about the state of the economy. But as we’ve all heard before, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”  What we can do is work to ensure that Safe Routes to School programs are funded in the next federal transportation bill (SAFETEA-LU expires in 2009). We can also support the dedicated people who work daily to improve the health and safety or our school children – most often without the benefit of grant funding. And we can make better decisions now to ensure that cheaper and healthier transportation options, such as walking and bicycling, are safe and convenient for everyone.

 

—Elise Bremer-Nei,
NJDOT Safe Routes to School Coordinator