Annually Activate Chattanooga conducts a workshop to prioritize all Hamilton County elementary and middle schools for the Safe Routes to School program.  Usually about 15 schools are selected using a ranking criteria specifically designed to meet the intent of the National Safe Routes to School effort.  This criteria is detailed below.

• Neighborhood Proximity:  Is there a neighborhood or population of students within a one mile radius of the school?  If so, about many students would be affected.
• Safety:  Do conditions obstruct or make it unsafe for children to walk or bike to school?  If so, how dangerous are such conditions.
• Traffic:  Are there traffic issues at the school that either make it unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists or cause other related issues such as abnormal congestion and air quality concern?
• Existing Conditions:  Are students currently walking or biking?  If so, are conditions safe and free of obstacles?  If not, are they limited by physical barriers or social issues?
• School Description:  Is the school an elementary school?  If so, elementary schools may be better targets because the earlier a child becomes accustom to an activity the more likely they are to do that same activity throughout their lives.
• Other Plans/Projects:  Are there other improvements being made to the neighborhood or school?  If so, would a Safe Routes to School project enhance those improvements or provide additional opportunities for walking and biking to school?
• Political Support:  Is the school a request from a political official?  If so, the project must meet the first two criteria before being added to the prioritization list. 

Once a list of prioritized schools has been selected by Activate Chattanooga, the school principals are sent a packet of materials which describes the program and upcoming activities.   

A school is confirmed as a program participant upon confirmation from the principal of the school's interest and willingness to coordinate program activities.  Principals are then asked to appoint a Safe Routes to School coordinator from within the school staff and encouraged to request a parent volunteer to serve as an assistant to the coordinator.  These individuals make up the team for that school.

Planning staff and Activate Chattanooga members conduct several public meetings to promote the program at participating schools including a community-wide public meeting, informational booths at open house and registration, and presents to the school's PTA.  At these meetings surveys and comment opportunities are provided to the parents and students to gauge interest, assess hazards, and enlist volunteers.

Once the preliminary information from the public has been gathered, planning and engineering staff conduct on-site observational assessments including counts of the number of walkers/bikers, photographs of traffic and hazardous conditions, and written documentation of the overall safety of pedestrians and bicyclists.  These assessments will be used to describe the school's need for infrastructure improvements or safety programming and is necessary at the grant application stage.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) provides opportunity to local governments to seek 100% reimbursement funding for physical construction projects and programming projects that encourage and improve the conditions for students to walk and bike to school up to a limit of $250K per school.  The Chattanooga- Hamilton County Safe Routes to School Program Director makes application for eligible schools.  Upon Activate Chattanooga's consideration of the schools for grant applications to the Tennessee Department of Transportation a necessary component beyond the federally required "Five E's", is community involvement.  It is required that each participating school work with the Program Director to conduct a school-wide Walk to School, Bike to School, or Walk & Bike to School event.  The school chooses a route and beginning location where parents and students meet and walk/bike to school as a group.  The event provide an opportunity for education, program promotion, and experience.  Having the experience creates a desire to continue the effort and build upon the existing program components thus improving the conditions each and every year.

Schools found in immediate need of infrastructure improvements and safety programming will be included in the annual grant applications to TDOT.  There are a variety of projects which quality for grant funding included are sidewalks, bicycle facilities, crosswalks, flashing pedestrian and crossing signals.  For a full list of applicable projects visit http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/saferoutes or click here to view projects at participating schools.

If a Chattanooga-Hamilton County program project is selected, the project and its status will be posted here.  The first year of grant applications are due March 15, 2007.  Selected projects are expected to be announced in the summer.