Summary: Measure C funding for a new, regional Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) program was identified in 2024 as potentially being derived from funds not being expended in existing programs from the 2006 Measure C Extension. Beginning in 2023, the SRTS Subcommittee met to discuss and identify investment needs to support educational institutions throughout the County, specifically in priority communities. The Measure C Safe Routes to School allocation aims to support transportation projects serving primary and secondary students in accessing public school facilities to:
- Enhance the safety of children walking or biking to school;
- Prioritize schools with significant safety concerns or risk to children bicycling or walking to school based on crash data, traffic analysis, or traffic behavior around primary and secondary schools; and
- Support disadvantaged and low-income communities with fewer transportation safety options to ensure all children have access to safe routes.
In November 2024, Fresno COG’s Policy Board approved a transfer of $6 million in Measure C funding from the Senior Scrip, carpool/vanpool and agricultural vanpool programs into a new SRTS program for one-time funding of eligible projects on a formula, pro-rata basis. In December 2024, the Fresno County Transportation Authority countered Fresno COG’s proposal with a recommendation to keep available funding among rural jurisdictions and the County of Fresno only, but to make the program competitive, requiring a call for projects.
Policy Board members discussed and conceptually approved FCTA’s counterproposal at Fresno COG’s January 2025 meeting. Codifying this action requires a formal amendment to the 2006 Measure C Expenditure Plan, which must be approved by both the Fresno COG Policy Board and the FCTA.
Following Board direction, Fresno COG and FCTA staff have developed draft SRTS guidelines and a draft application packet for the 13 eligible entities, which are attached to this staff report. Based largely on California’s Active Transportation Program, the SRTS guidelines prioritize bicycle and pedestrian-friendly projects within one-half mile of a school site and establish a project limit of $1.5 million, among other characteristics.
Action: Staff requests the SRTS Subcommittee recommend the Fresno COG Policy Board approve Amendment No. 8 to the 2006 Measure C Expenditure Plan, which includes reallocating $6 million in Measure C funds to the new Safe Routes to Schools program, and to be distributed following the attached guidelines and application.
