COLUMBUS (January 22, 2008) – In cooperation with communities
across the state to make walking and bicycling to school a safe and
routine activity once again, the Ohio Department of Transportation
(ODOT) is directing more than $4 million in federal transportation
funds as part of the department’s Safe Routes to School program.
In this first year of funding, ODOT is awarding $2.6 million to 15
communities for infrastructure projects, including pedestrian crossing
signals, completing sidewalks, building small pedestrian bridges and
improving signage. ODOT is also awarding $167,000 to 5 communities to
develop educational materials, provide encouragement programs, and
help municipalities with enforcement programs.
An additional $1.2 million will go to 87 communities to develop
School Travel Plans, a required outline of how local communities will
encourage both parents and children to travel by means other than a
motor vehicle or bus to and from school. This is accomplished by
reducing individual car trips, increasing walking and bicycling and by
making the walking and bicycling environment safer.
In 1969, national statistics showed that half of all students
walked or bicycled to school. Today, however, fewer than 15 percent of
all school trips are made by walking or biking; instead, more than
half of all children arrive at school in private automobiles.
This decline in walking to school has had not only an adverse
effect on traffic congestion and air quality around schools, but
evidence has shown that children who lead sedentary lifestyles are at
risk for a variety of health problems.
Safety issues are a big concern for parents, who consistently cite
traffic danger as a reason why their children are unable to bike or
walk to school.
ODOT’s Safe Routes to School Program makes federal funding
available for a wide variety of programs and projects, from building
safer street crossings to establishing programs that encourage
children and their parents to walk and bicycle safely to school.
A complete list of awards and additional information about ODOT’s
Safe Routes to School Program can be found online at
www.dot.state.oh.us/SafeRoutes.
