A new report has been issued at the University of Washington titled “So Many Choices, So Many Ways to Choose: How Five State Departments of Transportation Select Safe Routes to School for Funding.” The report compares the methods by which five statedepartments of transportation (DOTs) select the most promisingSafe Routes to Schools (SRTS) proposals for funding.  Their selection processes and criteria used are reviewed to highlight examples of best practices that consider:

• The four common barriers to walking and biking to school (distance, income, parent values and parent concerns).
• The “Five E’s” commonly used to classify SRTS program elements (engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation).
• The five conceptualized stages of an SRTS program (existing conditions, planning, proposal, implementation, and assessment of outcomes).

The study also offers insights into the five state SRTS programs.