Sponsors (2)
The bill improves coordination and safety for children and communities by requiring state school-route safety coordinators (funded from existing federal-aid), but it shifts funding and adds staffing/administrative requirements that could reduce resources for other transportation projects and strain state agencies.
Children who walk or bike to school and their schools will likely see faster development of safety projects and outreach because Safe Routes programs will be better coordinated statewide.
State and local transportation agencies will have a clear, designated point of contact for school-route safety coordination, making it easier for communities and schools to access program support and information.
States can fund the coordinator's salary using existing Federal-aid transportation program funds, reducing the need for new state-only spending for this role.
Using Federal-aid highway or transportation program funds to pay coordinator salaries could reduce funding available for construction or maintenance projects, potentially delaying or scaling back other transportation work.
State Departments of Transportation must fill coordinator vacancies within 180 days, which could force reallocation of staff, expedited hiring, or other trade-offs that strain agency capacity and divert resources from other projects.
The new federal designation and contact-posting requirements create modest administrative obligations and compliance costs for State DOTs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires each State to designate a Safe Routes to School coordinator, post contact info online, allows salary from certain federal highway funds, and requires filling vacancies within 180 days.
Introduced May 21, 2025 by Kevin Cramer · Last progress May 21, 2025
Requires each State to designate a Safe Routes to School program coordinator as the State point of contact, post that coordinator’s contact information on the State DOT website, and fill any vacancy within 180 days. States may assign an existing employee to the role and may pay the coordinator’s salary using certain existing federal highway funds; the coordinator’s duties are limited to those authorized by federal law. Also removes one existing paragraph from the current statutory subsection being amended. The change is administrative and focuses on state-level coordination and transparency rather than creating new grant programs or new mandatory federal funding.