Oregon Issues $31M in ‘Safe Routes to School’ Funds

The Oregon Transportation Commission recently approved 28 Safe Routes to School projects, with a total investment exceeding $31 million, to help make travel safer for students within a two-mile radius of local schools.

[Above photo by Oregon DOT]

Those projects – funded through Oregon Department of Transportation’s “Safe Routes to School” competitive construction grant program – aim to address the “highest” transportation safety risks around local schools, remove barriers for students at low-income schools, and are the likeliest to be completed within five years.

“It’s important to us to help students and their families get to school safely by foot or bike or mobility device,” said Suzanne Carlson, Oregon DOT’s Public Transportation Division administrator, in a statement.

“We are excited to support cities and counties who want to make these improvements in their communities,” she added – noting that the program has funded 104 construction projects since 2019, with nearly half of those projects completed and the other half in construction or design. “They’re making an amazing difference around the state,” Carlson noted.

Other state departments of transportation across the country support similar “Safe Routes to School” programs.

For example, in July 2024, the Ohio Department of Transportation issued more than $8 million to support 29 projects in 19 counties.

The agency noted that projects are selected by a committee made up of subject matter experts from Ohio DOT and the Ohio Department of Health based on the ability to demonstrate improved bike or pedestrian connectivity, improved safety, number of students impacted, economic need, and available funding.

And in June 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation noted that 72 schools joined its “Safe Routes to School” program during the 2023-2024 academic year; boosting the total number of partner schools across Massachusetts to 1,171, facilities located in 284 communities and serving approximately 590,000 students.