San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) Funds $350,000 in Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Improvements
Schools to receive improvement funds include Harloe Elementary in Arroyo Grande, Virginia Peterson Elementary in Paso Robles, Baywood Elementary in Los Osos, and Oceano Elementary
San Luis Obispo, Calif. – April 5, 2017 – Today the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) approved $350,000 in discretionary funding as part of its Active Transportation Partnership Plan’s Short Term Investment Strategy. Regional State Highway Account (RSHA) funds were awarded to member jurisdictions for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) infrastructure improvements.
Projects funded today include:
- City of Arroyo Grande – Harloe Elementary School Pedestrian Access Enhancements: $50,000
- City of Paso Robles – Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements near Virginia Peterson Elementary School: $100,000
- San Luis Obispo County – Paso Robles Street Pedestrian Enhancements (Oceano Elementary): $100,000
- San Luis Obispo County – El Moro Pedestrian Enhancements, Los Osos (Baywood Elementary): $100,000
In San Luis Obispo (SLO) County, there are ten school districts with 74 schools educating nearly 23,000 elementary and middle school students. Each of these students interact with the transportation system every day; however, active transportation for school commuting is marginal compared to private vehicle use and below the state average, according to the recently conducted 2015 Safe Routes to School Parent Survey.
SLOCOG’s 2014 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) emphasizes the importance of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs that aim to increase the safety and convenience of walking and cycling to school in achieving its goal to “Provide safe and efficient connections for biking and walking between transportation modes such as Park & Ride lots, transit facilities, and other destinations for vehicles (shopping, schools, employment); as well as providing recreational activities such as walking and biking”.
Two parallel and complimentary programs exist within SLOCOG to work toward achieving this goal.
First, the SLO Regional Rideshare program provides safe walking and cycling education and encouragement for schools around the county through its non-infrastructure program.
Second, SLOCOG’s programming staff maintains a SRTS Prioritization Tool, a quantitative decision-making tool that ranks schools on their need for SRTS capital investments and works with member jurisdictions to fund projects. The SRTS Prioritization Tool allows SLOCOG staff to estimate each school’s need for walking and bicycling improvements in its vicinity. It provides a quantitative basis that informs the funding allocation process. At the same time, the call for projects employs a qualitative component--local jurisdiction staff that is familiar with active transportation network deficiencies around schools.
Due to receipt of funding requests that exceeded the amount of available funding, the recent staff recommendations were based on:
- Prioritizing projects serving schools in the top quartile of the SRTS Prioritization Tool. All four projects recommended for funding serve top-quartile schools; and
- Prioritizing projects on public rights-of-way submitted by member jurisdictions.
About SLOCOG (http://www.slocog.org)
The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) is an association of local governments in the San Luis Obispo County Region. Its members include all 7 cities (Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo) as well as unincorporated areas of San Luis Obispo County. The central purpose of SLOCOG is to examine common regional problems and suggest solutions. SLOCOG provides transportation planning and funding for the region, and serves as a forum for the study and resolution of regional issues. In addition to preparing the region’s long-range transportation plan, SLOCOG plans and provides funding for public transit services, highway and roadway improvements, and other alternative methods of transportation. For more information on SLOCOG, visit slocog.org.
To learn more about SLOCOG’s SRTS Prioritization tool or this programming of projects, please see the April 5, 2017 staff report, Item A-3, here: http://slocog.org/meetings-agendas/slocog-board
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