RECEIVE  report on Caltrans Sustainable Communities Transportation Planning Grant application to prepare a Safe Routes to School Plan to improve access to schools in Salinas.

The maximum award for a Caltrans Sustainable Communities planning grants application is $1,000,000; a total of $12.5 million is available statewide. Staff estimates the budget for the Salinas Safe Routes to School Plan to be $1,129,000. The Sustainable Communities grant requires a minimum local match of 11.47%, or $129,560. The match will be provided through the Measure X Safe Routes to School Program over fiscal years 2019/20 through 2021/22.  The Sustainable Communities grants are funded by Senate Bill 1 gas tax and fee revenues. 

The Caltrans Sustainable Communities grant program funds multimodal transportation planning studies that have statewide, interregional, regional or local significance. The purpose of these planning studies is to identify and address safety and mobility deficiencies in the transportation system through stakeholder collaboration and active public engagement.

Agency staff submitted an application to prepare a Salinas Safe Routes to School Plan, in partnership with the City of Salinas, the County Health Department, four Salinas School Districts and Ecology Action.  Schools are often the site of local traffic congestion, particularly during morning commute times. Traffic caused by school drop-off often makes it difficult for students to bike or walk to school. This Plan will identify barriers to safe, convenient transportation and guide future improvements around 44 city schools in four school districts to help address school-based traffic congestion and improve student health by fostering increased biking, walking and carpooling.  TAMC, County Health Department, City of Salinas Public Works and Planning, School Districts and non-profit Ecology Action will engage administrators, parents and students in school bike/walk assessments, carpool matching and data collection.  

The Study, an outgrowth of regional planning efforts, will do the following to promote multiple statewide transportation goals:

• Gather collision, student residence, parent perception and mode data;
• Identify needs and barriers to walking, bicycling and carpooling;
• Develop a prioritized list of infrastructure and non-infrastructure recommendations; and
• Develop a pilot program for school carpooling.

The Salinas Safe Routes to School plan will be prepared in a manner similar to the plan currently being developed by TAMC for schools in Seaside and Marina.

Funding for the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning grant program is available on a statewide, competitive basis. The grant application was submitted to comply with Caltrans' November 30, 2018 deadline. Project selections will be made in February 2019, with funding available by July 2019.