BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 516
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 516 (V. Manual Perez) - As Introduced: February 15, 2011
SUBJECT : Safe Routes to School
SUMMARY : Modifies the Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program to
result in increased participation from socio-economically
disadvantaged schools and communities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Modifies and expands the list of factors to be used to rate
SR2S grant proposals to include the use of a public
participation process, including but not limited to, a public
meeting that satisfies the following:
a) Involves the public, schools, parents, teachers, local
agencies, the business community, key professionals, and
others;
b) Identifies community priorities and gathers community
input to guide the development of projects included in the
proposals;
c) Ensures that community priorities are reflected in the
proposals; and,
d) Secures support for the proposal by relevant community
stakeholders.
2)Further expands the list of proposal rating factors to include
benefits to a "disadvantaged community," as defined to mean a
community with an annual median household income that is less
than 80% of the statewide annual median household income.
EXISTING LAW :
3)Provides two separate and distinct SR2S programs-one federally
funded and one state funded. The federal program provides
grants for infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects
(such as education and enforcement). The state program
provides grants only for infrastructure projects. (This bill
modifies the evaluation criteria for state SR2S grants; hence,
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any further reference to the "SR2S" program will be to the
state program.)
4)Establishes the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) as the multi-modal department responsible for the
statewide mobility of people, goods, and services. Requires
Caltrans to administer an SR2S program for construction of
bicycle and pedestrian safety and traffic calming projects.
5)Requires Caltrans to award grants to local governmental
agencies on a statewide, competitive basis using various
factors as specified.
6)Encourages Caltrans to coordinate with law enforcement
agencies' community policy efforts in establishing and
maintaining the SR2S program.
7)Exempts SR2S grants from traditional transportation
distribution formulae, commonly referred to as the north-south
split and county shares.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The goal of both the federal and state Safe Routes to
School programs administered by Caltrans is to increase the
number of children that walk or bicycle to school by funding
projects that remove barriers that prevent or discourage them
from doing so. In 1999, California was the first state in the
country to legislate its own state SR2S program with dedicated
funding (from the State Highway Account) on the premise that
encouraging more children to walk and bicycle to school would
result in healthier children, improved air quality, reduced fuel
consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and less traffic
congestion near schools. The state SR2S program was funded at
$24.25 million in the latest annual cycle (October 2010) and
funds are distributed on a statewide, competitive basis.
Typical projects in these programs include installing curbs,
sidewalks, traffic signals, crosswalks, warning signs, and
bicycle paths.
According to guidelines that govern Caltrans' administration of
the SR2S:
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8)An applicant for SR2S grants must be an incorporated city or a
county within California.
9)SR2S funds are apportioned to each of 12 Caltrans districts on
a student enrollment basis, except that 3 rural, low-student
enrollment districts receive $1 million each for each two-year
cycle. Those districts are: Caltrans District 1 (Eureka),
Caltrans District 2 (Redding), and Caltrans District 9
(Bishop).
10)The maximum amount of SR2S funds allocated to any single
project is $900,000 and the maximum reimbursement rate allowed
for each project is 90%, with the remaining 10% to be matched
in local dollars. If the total project cost exceeds $1
million, the applicant must fund the balance of the project
with other funds.
11)Applicants are advised, but not prohibited, from submitting
more than three project applications.
Proposals are rated by Caltrans staff on the following factors:
1)Demonstrated needs of the applicant;
2)Potential of the proposal to reduce child injuries and
fatalities;
3)Potential of the proposal to increase walking and bicycling
among students;
4)Identification of safety hazards;
5)Identification of current and potential walking and bicycling
routes to school; and,
6)Consultation and support for projects by school-based
associations, local traffic engineers, local elected
officials, law enforcement agencies, school officials, and
other relevant community stakeholders.
This bill modifies and expands the above list of factors that
Caltrans considers when evaluating SR2S proposals. The
revisions to the rating factors are intended to result in
increased participation from socio-economically disadvantaged
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schools and communities.
To date, the SR2S program has been hugely successful, with
applications exceeding available funds by a ratio of about 6:1.
Further, many perceive the program's outcomes as being equally
successful in encouraging children to be more physically active
and SR2S is considered a critical program in the fight against
childhood obesity.
With this in mind, to help ensure California's SR2S grants
target low-income schools and communities, Caltrans was directed
by the prior administration to review and analyze SR2S funding
practices to assess participation of low-socioeconomic status
schools and communities. A primary reason for this emphasis is
that the epidemic of childhood obesity is especially prevalent
in low-income communities where 30% of children and youth are
overweight. Accordingly, Caltrans commissioned its Technical
Assistance Resource Center (TARC) to determine the level of
participation in the program by low-income schools historically
and to recommend strategies for increasing those levels going
forward. TARC is a joint project effort between the California
Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the University of
California, San Francisco (UCSF). The results of TARC's
research indicated that low-income schools (defined in the study
as having 75% or more of students eligible for school meal
subsidies) received more state and federal SR2S grants than
schools in middle or high income categories with less than 75%
of students eligible for school meal subsidies. The TARC
research further indicates that while it "does not conclusively
explain why the poorest schools get more grants, analysis
indicates that it is not because they submit more applications.
TARC also studied what other states and programs have done to
increase participation of low-income schools. While several
different strategies have been employed by other states; none
have been in place long enough to evaluate for their
effectiveness. The most promising strategies for increasing
participation may be providing continuous support for Caltrans
Districts since they are responsible for prioritizing local
applications, and maintaining funding to CDPH/UCSF for TARC,
which will provide ongoing targeted outreach and technical
assistance to low-income
schools and communities."
The TARC study recommended that a program goal be established by
at least 5% to increase the number of low-income schools that
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participate in the state and federal SR2S programs. The study
indicated that "This goal is modest but provides a clear and
positive statement of intent. The goal can be met through a
collaborative Caltrans-TARC effort that includes enhanced
community involvement, additional technical assistance and
training, and continued emphasis on environmental justice. TARC
is confident that these steps will continue to improve the reach
of federal and state SR2S programs into low-income schools and
communities and ensure the most at-risk children will benefit
from these valuable programs."
According to the author, "thousands of child pedestrians are hit
each year due to limited school zone parameters and excessive
speed near schools. Disadvantaged and rural communities lack
infrastructure to keep kids safe. While SR2S has been a popular
and effective program in ensuring school children are safe
walking to and from school, it is unclear whether it targets
communities most in need." Further, numerous entities indicate
their support of this bill that would help promote greater
inclusion of community voices in the development of the
proposals as well as safeguarding disadvantaged communities by
ensuring their predominant health and safety concerns are met.
Despite the purported merits of this bill, some may question the
need for advocacy on behalf of disadvantaged communities
especially as those schools in those areas are receiving their
proportionate share of SR2S grants according to the TARC study.
Also, some may believe that by requiring Caltrans to include
"benefit to disadvantaged community" as a scoring criterion, the
application screening and rating process may be skewed away from
a focus on quality. Thus, while a mandate to award extra
ratings points to applications submitted on behalf of low-income
schools would likely result in an immediate increase in grant
awards to these communities, it may not necessarily lead to
quality construction of projects with long-term increases in
walking and bicycling rates as well as improvements in traffic
safety.
Author's amendments : The author proposes to amend this bill to
clarify that local school districts can apply for SR2S grant
funding; change the rating factor to benefit a low-income
school, rather than a disadvantaged community; and require
Caltrans to fully consider the needs of low-income schools for a
waiver of the 10% cost-share in the development of program
guidelines and procedures.
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Previous legislation: AB 2147 (V. Manuel Perez) of 2010, a
similar bill, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In his
veto message, he indicated that "While this bill is intended to
enhance the position of low-income communities to compete for
SRTS funds, based on the recent success of those communities
receiving SRTS program funding, this bill may be unnecessary. A
recent review of the SRTS Program determined that low-income
schools, which compromise approximately one-third of California
schools, have received 35% and 44% of all
SRTS grants awarded over the past five years through the state
and federal programs, respectively. Additionally, to the extent
funding is provided to weaker proposals receiving additional
credits by benefitting low-income schools, this bill could have
a negative impact on project delivery and may not result in the
intended long-term increases in walking and biking that the
program funds are intended to encourage."
AB 1475 (Soto), Chapter 663, Statutes of 1999, established the
first SR2S Program, on a limited-term basis. The program was
extended twice: SB 10 (Soto), Chapter 600, Statutes of 2001,
and SB 1087 (Soto), Chapter 392, Statutes of 2004. The statute
was finally amended to strike the sunset date and continue the
program indefinitely by (AB 57 (Soto), Chapter 673, Statutes of
2007).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (co-sponsor)
PolicyLink (co-sponsor)
American Lung Association California
California Walks
The City Project
TransForm
Walk San Diego
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
AB 516
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