SB 201: "An Act establishing the safe routes to school program; relating to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; relating to the Department of Health and Social Services; and relating to the Department of Education and Early Development."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 201 01 "An Act establishing the safe routes to school program; relating to the Department of 02 Transportation and Public Facilities; relating to the Department of Health and Social 03 Services; and relating to the Department of Education and Early Development." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 19.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 19.05.055. Safe routes to school program. (a) The department shall 07 establish a safe routes to school program for the purposes of establishing safe routes 08 for students to walk and bicycle to school and supporting safe routes to school projects 09 that will reduce vehicle-pedestrian accidents and improve student health. The program 10 must include 11 (1) a strategic plan to guide development of safe routes to school 12 throughout the state; 13 (2) a grant procedure for providing funding support to develop site- 14 specific projects; and
01 (3) statewide outreach and technical assistance to schools and other 02 entities to establish safe routes to schools. 03 (b) The legislature may appropriate to the program at least 18 percent of the 04 revenue derived each year from federal receipts for transportation alternatives 05 programs and surface transportation programs. Nothing in this subsection creates a 06 dedicated fund. 07 (c) The department may not transfer revenue that is derived from federal 08 receipts for transportation alternatives programs or surface transportation programs to 09 another program, fund, or account, except as may be otherwise provided by federal 10 law. 11 (d) Of the total amount available to the department in a fiscal year for the safe 12 routes to school program, the department shall use not less than 10 percent and not 13 more than 30 percent for safe routes to school projects that are not related to 14 infrastructure. 15 (e) The department shall 16 (1) implement, review, and update the program; 17 (2) administer the program in collaboration with the Department of 18 Health and Social Services and the Department of Education and Early Development; 19 (3) develop, review, and update a statewide strategic plan under (f) of 20 this section in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Services and the 21 Department of Education and Early Development; 22 (4) evaluate and provide technical assistance for site-specific projects; 23 (5) award grants to eligible entities for projects selected under (g) of 24 this section; 25 (6) provide outreach, education, and technical assistance to eligible 26 entities under P.L. 114-94 (Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act); 27 (7) identify barriers to implementation of safe routes to school; and 28 (8) develop criteria and procedures for collection of student travel data. 29 (f) The strategic plan for the program must 30 (1) review the needs of students for safe routes to schools; 31 (2) establish benchmarks and long-term goals for the program;
01 (3) prioritize high-need areas for available technical assistance, 02 resources, and funding for safe routes to school projects; and 03 (4) identify strategies for achieving program goals. 04 (g) The department shall consult with the Department of Health and Social 05 Services and the Department of Education and Early Development to develop and 06 periodically revise guidelines, schedules, and procedures to support safe routes to 07 school projects selected for grant awards. The department may award a grant to an 08 eligible applicant to support planning or engineering for safe routes to school projects 09 that are site-specific. The department shall prioritize high-need areas and establish 10 performance measures for each project for which a grant is awarded. To receive a 11 grant, a project must 12 (1) be located within two miles of a school; 13 (2) facilitate bicycling and walking to the school by providing one or 14 more of the following: 15 (A) improvements to sidewalks; 16 (B) pedestrian and bicycle crossings; 17 (C) on-street bicycle facilities; 18 (D) off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities; 19 (E) secure bicycle parking facilities; 20 (F) traffic calming, diversion, and speed reduction; and 21 (G) other approved strategies; and 22 (3) be designed to encourage children in safely walking and bicycling 23 to school through public awareness campaigns and outreach, traffic education and 24 enforcement in the vicinity of schools, student education on bicycle and pedestrian 25 safety, and training for volunteers and managers. 26 (h) The director shall submit an annual report for the program to the 27 legislature not later than 20 days before the convening of each regular session of the 28 legislature. The director shall deliver the report to the senate secretary and the chief 29 clerk of the house of representatives and notify the legislature that the report is 30 available. The report must include 31 (1) a program funding summary;
01 (2) an estimation of the benefits conferred by the program; 02 (3) a progress report on the implementation of the benchmarks and 03 long-term goals for the program, including benchmarks and goals related to high-need 04 areas; and 05 (4) any recommendations for legislative changes, including proposals 06 to improve program effectiveness. 07 (i) The department may adopt regulations necessary to implement the 08 program. 09 (j) In this section, 10 (1) "high-need area" means 11 (A) a school or project area in which at least 50 percent of the 12 children are eligible to receive free and reduced-price meals under the National 13 School Lunch Program; or 14 (B) a census tract in which the median household income is 15 less than 80 percent of the statewide average median based on the most current 16 census tract level data from the United States Census Bureau American 17 Community Survey; 18 (2) "program" means the safe routes to school program.