Metro has won a $1.1 million federal grant that will boost walking school bus and bike bus programs in north Portland.
The news was announced today by US Department of Transportation. The funding comes from the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
According to a description of the grant application provided by Metro, the funding will be used to invest in walking schools buses and bike bus programs. The aim is to see what happens when these activities are funded and supported by more than just a parent or two and if the availability of a safer route to school and supportive school environment gets more families to leave their cars at home.
The pilot activities will take place in the Roosevelt High School cluster in north Portland with programming at five elementary schools (Astor, James John, Sitton, Rosa Parks, César Chávez), one middle school (George), and one high school (Roosevelt). That cluster has 68% students of color, a 45% absentee rate, and 43% of the families have low incomes. Metro crash statistics reveal that the routes kids at these schools take are much more dangerous over average than the region at-large. The grant application also cited concerns with gun violence as a reason families don’t walk and roll to school…