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7 <br />ATTACHMENT 2 <br />Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) Strategic Action Plan OVERVIEW <br />November 19, 2013 <br />SRTS PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE <br />The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program was established in the 2005 Safe, <br />Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users <br />(SAFETEA -LU). It is a federally- funded grant reimbursement program providing an <br />opportunity for communities to improve conditions for bicycling and walking to school. <br />Section 1404 of SAFETEA -LU mandates that the North Carolina Department of <br />Transportation (NCDOT) administer this program within the state, providing financial <br />assistance to state, local, and regional agencies, including non - profit organizations that <br />demonstrate an ability to meet the requirements of the program. <br />The purpose of the SRTS program is to: <br />• Enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and <br />bicycle to school. <br />• Make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation <br />alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age. <br />• Facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and <br />activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air <br />pollution in the vicinity of schools. <br />The NC SRTS Program works with schools, local governments and agencies, advocacy <br />and non - profit organizations, and public health professionals at a grassroots level to <br />identify improvements that can help make bicycling and walking to and from school a <br />safe and healthy transportation alternative. <br />THREE SCHOOLS ADDRESSED BY THE SRTS ACTION PLAN <br />• Grady A. Brown Elementary School <br />• Cameron Park Elementary School <br />• C.W. Stanford Middle School <br />The three schools chosen for the SRTS Action Plan are part of the Orange County <br />school system, and all are located inside or adjacent to the Town of Hillsborough. A <br />comprehensive, multi- faceted approach was taken to examine existing conditions <br />including the collection of data from parent surveys and student travel tallies, site work <br />and field interviews, and area mapping. A thorough inventory of existing conditions was <br />assembled at each school site to provide a baseline by which to measure the results <br />and outcome of the SRTS Program at the community, school and street levels. <br />