Economic Investment and Program Implementation in Communities through Safe Routes to School
Project Description
This project documents economic investment in communities through the federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program and examines the distribution of funds across states, regions, and areas defined by population and demographic characteristics (e.g., percent poverty, educational status).
The SRTS program was added in the 2005 reauthorization of the transportation bill, Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Since its enactment, limited attention has been paid to patterns of distribution of SRTS funds across geographic areas. We develop measures of successful SRTS economic investment and project implementation in low-resource communities based on stated objectives of the SRTS program. We aim to inform local, regional, and national policy for supporting equitable, comprehensive SRTS programs and safe, active environments for youth.
In this project, we also update a previous analysis describing the distribution of federal transportation funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects across states and counties.
Principal Investigator: Angie Cradock, ScD
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research
Funding Dates: December 1, 2008–June 30, 2011
For more information, contact Jessica Barrett.
Publications
Cradock AL, Fields B, Barrett JL, Melly S. Program practices and demographic factors associated with federal funding for the Safe Routes to School program in the United States. Health Place. 2012;18(1):16-23.
Presentations
Cradock A, Barrett J, Melly S, Fields B. Economic Investment and Program Implementation in Low-Resource Communities: Safe Routes to School, 2011 Active Living Research Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, February 23, 2011.
Cradock A, Barrett J, Melly S, Fields B. Economic Investment and Program Implementation in Low-Resource Communities: Safe Routes to School, 2010 Active Living Research Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, February 10, 2010.
Other Resources
The Harvard School of Public Health’s Health and Transportation Policy Forum
Federal Highway Administration Safe Routes to School
National Center for Safe Routes to School
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
The Harvard Prevention Research Center is a member of the Prevention Research Centers Program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cooperative agreement number 1-U48-DP-001946.