Neguse Unveils Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Ensure Safe Walking and Biking Routes to Schools

Statement

Today, Congressman Joe Neguse unveiled a bipartisan, bicameral measure to expand the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program, making it safer for all students to get to school and promoting both pedestrian and bicycle safety. The legislation directs the Department of Transportation to make federal support available for state and local projects designed to encourage high schoolers to walk or bike to school. As a result, the Act will incentivize physical activity and safety and deliver on much-needed infrastructure investments.

"As we work to make a historic investment in our nation's infrastructure, keeping our students safe must be at the front of our minds," said Congressman Joe Neguse. "Coloradans know innately the benefits of being outdoors, and the Safe Route to All Schools Act will expand safe opportunities to walk or bike to school, promoting healthy and safe commute opportunities."

The Safe Route to All Schools Act is the companion to the bipartisan Senate legislation introduced by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND). The Act boosts student safety and builds on the SRTS program by extending it to high school students as well as younger students.

Read bill text HERE.

Safe Routes to School and related initiatives encourage students to, if they are able, walk or bike to school while teaching them about pedestrian and bicycle safety. Moreover, SRTS programs operate on a variety of levels, allowing them to be implemented by entities as small as individual schools to entities as large as state Departments of Transportation. The Safe Routes to All Schools Act continues to scale the program upwards, bringing the federal government further into the fold and making new resources available to support SRTS.

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