The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced 58 projects, totaling $5.9 million, for the 2014 Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS).  Thirty-four of the 58 projects, totaling $2.9 million, were sponsored by agencies in the seven-county northeastern Illinois region. 

SRTS is a federal funding program, administered by IDOT, aimed at improving conditions for and increasing the number of students who walk or bike to school. The program has three main goals:

• To enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school.
• To make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.
• To facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity (within two miles) of both public and private primary and middle schools (grades K-8).

The Illinois SRTS program funds both infrastructure improvements to the physical environment as well as non-infrastructure projects. Eligible project sponsors include schools and school districts, governmental entities, and non-profit organizations. Projects may be organized on a variety of jurisdictional levels.