Senate Legislation Aims to Sustain Safe Routes to School

On April 12, 2011, twelve Senators—led by Senators Harkin (D-IA), Sanders (D-VT), and Merkley (D-OR)—introduced legislation (S. 800) to sustain and strengthen the federal Safe Routes to School program.

It’s a tough environment in Congress these days with so much attention on cutting spending—so this legislation helps send a strong message that the federal Safe Routes to School program should be preserved. S. 800 would:

• Maintain Safe Routes to School as a standalone transportation program;
• Sustain funding at the FY09 level of $183 million per year given high demand and need for the program;
• Add limited eligibility for high schools and bus stop safety;
• Improve project delivery and reduce overhead by addressing regulatory burden; and
• Add a research and evaluation component.

Please follow the links below to learn more and take action to support the legislation:

• Contact your Senators to ask them to co-sponsor the bill
• See which national organizations support the bill
• See if your state’s Senators are cosponsors
• Download a summary of the legislation
• Download talking points on why Safe Routes to School is a good investment
• Access full text of the legislation