5 project application limit:

The localities of Richmond City and Henrico County have historically each submitted more than 5 project applications for funding through VDOT's TAP program. Under the new proposed guidance, these localities would not be able to fund as many designed and shovel ready projects to support active and safe mobility in the Richmond region, slowing progress toward state and local goals towards roadway safety. Additionally, in the FY 27 - 28 application cycle, under the proposed rule, Richmond's existing Safe Routes to Schools program would have to be included in their maximum number of five projects. With the funding cap for SRTS slated to be incrementally lowered over the next 4 years, the total amount of funding Richmond could receive for transportation safety will effectively be reduced impacting local transportation safety efforts.

Safe Routes to Schools:

The loss of funding opportunity for Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) programs through VDOT's TAP grant may lead to a loss or program reduction in Richmond's Safe Routes to Schools program that currently supports child health and safety on Richmond streets. SRTS programs increase the number of students bicycling and walking to and from school while simultaneously improving safety for children bicycling or walking to school. SRTS helps set students up to make healthy and active transportation choices throughout their lives.

Virginia will need both infrastructure and non-infrastructure interventions in order to achieve the goals outlined in Virginia's Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and Virginia’s Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) initiative. According to VDOT crash data, between 2016 - 2024, a total of 129 people under the age of 18 years old were hit by a vehicle while walking in Richmond. SRTS is rated a 3-star ("Likely to be effective based on balance of evidence from high-quality evaluations"), low-cost, and highly popular intervention in NHTSA's "Countermeasures That Work" guidance. SRTS help make the streets and roads that students travel safer through crossing guards, safety assessments, and pedestrian and bicyclist road safety skills.

SRTS provide education for children, families, parents, and teachers about safe walking and biking behavior and safe driving behavior around young pedestrians and bicyclists, two highly vulnerable road user groups in Virginia.  the Richmond City SRTS initiative has benefited many Richmond Public Schools (RPS) students. Through initiatives like the crossing guard program, Learn to Bike programs, and special events like Walk to School Day and Bike to School Day, SRTS has helped make walking and biking to school a safer and more accessible choice for students and their families. Richmond's SRTS program has also been essential to supporting Richmond's commitment to Vision Zero, lending expertise in discussions of other transportation safety projects near schools.

Continued funding for existing SRTS programs aligns with local, state, and federal objectives to increase the number of children and adults who bike and walk and reduce the number of children and adults who are killed or injured in traffic collisions. Safe Routes to Schools is a program promoted by VDOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), VDOT and VDH's joint statewide program Prioritizing Active Transportation, Health, and Safety (PATHS), and the Virginia Walkability Action Institute. Additionally, SRTS is a program promoted by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Active People, Healthy Nation program as there is demonstrated evidence that SRTS increases physical activity in students and reduces risk of injury from traffic collisions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2030 program has set a goal of increasing the proportion of adolescents who walk or bike to get places (PA-11). Locally, Richmond's Safe and Healthy Streets Commission and the Richmond Department of Public Works have supported and included SRTS in previous rounds of TAP funding. Without continued opportunity for funding though the TAP grant program, the progress made by these programs to develop and support local SRTS programs and reach these goals statewide, including in Richmond, may be lost.