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Planning 101

The Safe Routes to School planning process:

  • Engages community members, develops support, and sets priorities for increasing walking and bicycling to school – view engagement tools
  • Prepares the community to apply for funding, which is usually needed to implement the recommendations of the plan – view funding opportunities
  • Involves evaluating existing walking and bicycling conditions and developing an action plan to address barriers and encourage more students to use active travel to school – view evaluation tools
  • Some plans focus on one school, while others focus on a school district – view all plans in Minnesota

MnSRTS Plan Templates

Template plans are available to assist communities in their planning efforts, ensure comprehensive programs are designed, and better enable project managers to review SRTS plans for engineering needs near upcoming projects. Consultants who are funded by MnDOT are required to use these templates for their planning, however we encourage other SRTS Planning efforts to utilize these templates to help create their SRTS plans.

MnSRTS Plan Template – WORD | PDF

Executive Summary Template – WORD

Planning for Safe Routes to School: A Primer

This webinar series can be used to train a new Safe Routes to School team and prepare for the Safe Routes planning process.

1. Introduction to Safe Routes to School

2. Planning Guidance for Safe Routes to School

3. Special Topics in Safe Routes Planning

How to Write a Plan

There is no wrong way to write a Safe Routes to School plan, but typically a plan will include the following:

  1. The names of the members of the Safe Routes to School Team.
  2. A vision statement and/or list of goals for the plan.
  3. A summary of existing conditions, such as the number of students currently walking and biking and descriptions or photos of the infrastructure around the school.
  4. A section identifying barriers, challenges and opportunities. These may be related to any of the following: parent and student attitudes, school policies and infrastructure.
  5. A section identifying solutions and strategies, with recommendations that fall under each of the 6Es.
  6. An implementation plan that identifies lead personnel, timeframes and potential funding sources for each of the strategies from the previous section.

Updating the Plan

For a Safe Routes to School Plan to be effective, it must be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Plans should be reviewed on an annual basis, and major updates to the plan should take place on a 3-5 year basis. The person or team responsible for reviewing the plan should be identified in the implementation section. Also, as the plan is being written, think about metrics that can be used to evaluate its success, such as the number of walking or biking encouragement events held during the school year or the number of students that receive bicycle education in physical education classes. As plans are implemented, the goals and strategies in the plan should begin to be achieved, and new goals and strategies should be identified during the process of updating the plan.

Planning  Resources:

Start a Safe Routes to School Team

Forming a Safe Routes to School team is a great way to get started with Safe Routes to School programs or planning. This tip sheet provides ways to get started or use the Stakeholders guide for assembling a team.

Share a SRTS overview handout or the SRTS Handbook with your team to help them understand the purpose and goals of the program.

Engage Stakeholders

A range of partners can help grow and sustain your program. View the engagement section for information to help local Safe Routes teams engage community members in a program or planning process. Use the visioning tool to help your team identify goals that are unique to the community and school.

Conduct a Walk Audit

A walk audit is a field visit to a school and the surrounding neighborhood to observe travel behavior and examine how people driving, walking, and biking interact with each other and the built environment. The purpose of walk audits is to document existing behavior and infrastructure and to identify safety conditions that need improvement. The walk audit tip sheet has info for getting started.

MnSRTS Hazard Observation Tool

The Minnesota Department of Transportation developed the Hazard Observation tool to help communities evaluate and summarize current conditions that impact youth’s ability to walk and bicycle to school safely. Hazard Observations are strongly encouraged for all communities working on Safe Routes initiatives. To use the assessment tool, review the Safe Routes to School Hazard Observation Guide (PDF, 110 KB), and complete the worksheet, then complete the online survey to record and submit answers. Data from the assessments will be stored and tracked by MnDOT to develop a better understanding of statewide conditions that affect walking and bicycling to school.

RDC Planning Resources

SRTS Plan Templates

Download our pre-made plan templates in either Word or Adobe InDesign to help support your SRTS planning work.

Plan Templates 

Looking for More Information?

Spotlight: Minnesota Success Story

Success stories

Grand Marais

A group of people engaged in a discussion around a table with a map on itIn 2009, a Safe Routes to School Committee was established in Grand Marais and worked to create its first Safe Routes to School plan over the next year. The plan was created with participation from various agencies and community members in Cook County. Improved pedestrian safety measures along the Highway 61 corridor was identified as a top priority in the plan. In 2013, a Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN Center for Prevention funding source was secured for the Highway 61 corridor redesign project in Grand Marais, with the goal of creating a safer and more accessible corridor for people of all ages on foot and bike. 

Person pointing at a map on a wall with two other people watchingThe project had an extensive community engagement process, including three public meetings, online input opportunities and review of videos of meetings and materials, and one-on-one meetings with businesses and property owners along the corridor and other targeted public meeting groups. After going through the robust community engagement process, Health Impact Assessment, and other supporting efforts, funding was secured through the Transportation Alternatives Program for the pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure portion of the project. This $600,000 of funding will help the project to be constructed in 2019, with additional support from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The local Safe Routes to School Committee is also working to address other top priority missing connections to school zones in Grand Marais.

Lakefield

Map of Lakefield showing schoolsThe Southwest Regional Development Commission worked with the City of Lakefield to develop a Safe Routes to School Plan (June 2013) and Land Use Plan (June 2013). Both of these plans outlined projects to enable Lakefield to become more pedestrian friendly. The process entailed outlining sidewalk and trail gaps. 

A key connection was missing between Pleasantview Elementary and the southern neighborhoods in Lakefield. The need for the trail project connecting the south city park and Pleasantview Elementary was discussed during the planning process for both plans. 

The SRDC worked with Lakefield, Pleasantview Elementary (Jackson County Public Schools), and Jackson County Public Works to submit a Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Grant. The South Lakefield Connection Trail was selected for funding through the Minnesota Department of Transportation 2015-2016 Safe Routes to School solicitation. The success of this project was dependent on coordinated public planning processes that identified the gaps and potential solutions. This outlines how planning and plan development are key to securing funding for implementation.

Do you have a local success story to share? Submit a brief summary to [email protected].