USDOT is competing out $1 billion in funding to support communities to plan for and implement strategies that reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries, and it is an opportunity to elevate or re-invigorate Safe Routes to School in your community! With $1B in federal funds available to communities, Safe Routes to School practitioners can collaborate with community leaders to make sure Safe Routes to School is part of the solution to reduce traffic injuries and deaths.

The Federal Highway Administration released guidance on the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) (2/2/22) and the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) (3/30/22) and held a webinar on the Transportation Alternatives Program guidance (6/2/22).

The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law paired with the Biden Administration’s release of the National Roadway Safety Strategy makes this a unique moment in to prioritize the safety of people – including young people – in transportation planning and investment. How can you make the most of the focus on a Safe System approach to invest or re-invest in Safe Routes to School?

This post has been edited to clarify the difference between unobligated funds and awarded funds.

We at the Safe Routes Partnership hope 2022 is off to a happy, healthy start for you and your communities. We celebrated the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) late in 2021, and now we are here to help you take advantage of the positive policy changes and new money included in the law.

Now that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) has been signed into law, we are seeing a flurry of excitement about what it means for Safe Routes to School, walking, and bicycling. And we are also seeing uncertainty about what the law requires and what it offers related to Safe Routes to School. In particular, the section that restored the Safe Routes to School program is leading to confusion for advocates and agencies alike. We are here to help you make sense of it what it means, why it happened like this, and what to do about it.

On November 5, 2021, the House passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The Senate passed the bill in August, which means it now advances to President Biden to sign into law. Colloquially referred to as “the infrastructure bill”, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 is a monumental investment in the safety and support of people walking and bicycling.

While Democrats continue to iron out negotiations on Build Back Better, the partisan human-infrastructure bill, Congress passed another short-term extension for surface transportation on October 28^th. This extension runs through December 3, 2021. As a reminder, these short-term extensions keep funding levels and policy unchanged.

In August, we sent a link to the Safe Routes to School community to ask questions about federal policy related to walking, bicycling, and Safe Routes to School and committed to answering them here on the blog. Do you have questions? Submit them here.

Questions are italicized. Answers are bulleted below.

“How does your analysis on Aug 10 jibe with DeFazio’s work?”

After a busy spring and summer working on legislation to reauthorize surface transportation spending, Congress is staring down a September 30^th expiration date for current funding. Congress must reauthorize transportation spending or pass a short-term extension in order to maintain funding for transportation. Where things currently stand: