Status of State and Federal Support for Safe Routes to School

S T A T U S O F S T A T E A N D F E D E R A L S U P P O R T F O R S A F E R O U T E S T O S C H O O L

A SRTS plan is not required to receive Minnesota state and/or federal SRTS infrastructure grants but is highly recommended. A school and/or community with a 5-E SRTS plan will be much better able to compete for limited funding and resources to implement the identified recommendations. Please be aware that with likely future changes in federal and state transportation laws, the following funding sources are subject to change. Please contact WCI or MnDOT for updated funding information at any point in the future.

FEDERAL

In 2012, Congress passed a Federal transportation bill entitled Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) established under MAP-21 provides funding for a variety of alternative transportation projects, including Safe Routes to School. (Unlike previously, when the SRTS program was a separately-funded category) TAP is funded from the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund at an amount equal to 2% of the total amount of federal-aid highways each fiscal year. Each state will develop their own program for soliciting projects to be funded by the TAP funds allocated to them.

Late in 2015, Congress passed a five-year transportation spending bill called the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which was then signed into law by the President on December 4th. It is the first law enacted in over 10 years that provides long-term funding certainty for surface transportation. Overall, the FAST Act largely maintains current program structures and funding for SRTS. The only difference is that Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) which provides SRTS infrastructure funding has been renamed Transportation Alternatives (TA). The FAST Act does include two modest funding increases (4% over the life of the Act) for TA/SRTS programs14 . WCI can assist communities and school districts that apply for federal TA and SRTS infrastructure funds.

14

US Department of Transportation. “The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act or "FAST Act"”, webpage. https://www.transportation.gov/fastact#sthash.aDqlysIt.dpuf. Last updated January 12, 2016. Accessed on January 14, 2016.

P a g e 32 | Chapter 2: About Safe Routes to School (SRTS)