Safe Routes to School (SRTS)
Overview
Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) is a national program that focuses on getting students to and from school safely by walking, biking, or rolling, using tactics of engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, equity, and evaluation. Community members; public health, planning and transportation professionals; and school communities all have roles to play to change norms in how we move around our communities and give everyone safe access to opportunities.
SRTS in Maryland aims to...
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Improve safety for students traveling to school: SRTS helps improve safety for all students on their journey to school and within their communities. The program benefits students who ride the bus or travel in a car but especially focuses on students who walk or bike to school in Maryland.
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Increase the number of students walking and biking to school: SRTS enables and encourages children, including those with disabilities, to safely walk, roll, and bicycle to school. Through safety education and encouragement, SRTS helps to make bicycling, walking, and rolling to school safer and more appealing, encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age.
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Facilitate community-wide Safety Planning: SRTS helps to facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of safety projects and activities beyond schools themselves. SRTS projects are proven to have benefits for the whole community by reducing crashes, traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution.
Annual Events
| Event |
Description and 2026 information |
| Read Across America |
During the first week of March annually, The Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office (MHSO) partners with schools during Read Across America week to promote literacy and transportation safety.
Mark your Calendars!
Join in the fun from March 2-6, 2026: Email [email protected] if your school would like to celebrate with Cheswick the Crab books. |
| Bike & Roll to School Day |
On the first Wednesday of May, the Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary’s Office (TSO) and the MHSO join forces for Bike & Roll to School Day to promote biking safely. MDOT can help schools plan biking events and activities that celebrate students who bike or roll to school. Nationally 47 states and Washinton D.C. hosted 2,482 events and in Maryland 29 schools celebrated Bike & Roll to School Day 2025.
Mark your Calendars!
Plan an event for May 6, 2026: Register on walkbiketoschool.org and check back here for more information about celebrations in Maryland.
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| Walk & Roll to School Day |
On the first Wednesday of October, the Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary’s Office (TSO) and the MHSO join forces for Walk & Roll to School Day to promote walking safely. MDOT can help schools plan walking school buses and activities that celebrate students who walk or roll to school. Nationally, 47 states and Washinton D.C. hosted 3,400 events on Walk & Roll to School Day 2025.
Mark your Calendars!
Celebrate October 7, 2026: Register on walkbiketoschool.org and check back here for more information about celebrations in Maryland. |
| Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day |
On November 14 each year, Maryland schools are invited to join Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, an annual day of dialogue to commemorate her historic steps, continue the movement to end racisme, and unify our communities.
Mark your Calendars!
Sign up to participate on November 14, 2026: Sign up on rubybridges.foundation/walk-to-school-day. |
MDOT SRTS Coordinator Pilot Program
In 2024, MDOT launched an initiative to enhance the delivery of SRTS across the state. Through collaboration with the State Highway Administration (SHA), which administers SRTS funding under the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), MDOT developed the SRTS Coordinator Pilot Program—a model that has proven successful in other states. Under this program, TAP funds are allocated to local jurisdictions to cover 80% of the salary for an SRTS coordinator. To date, four counties have joined the pilot to hire coordinators in 2026. These coordinators will lead SRTS strategies, work directly with schools, manage programming, and prioritize infrastructure improvements around local schools.
To support Maryland’s SRTS Coordinator Pilot, MDOT’s Office of Active Transportation and Micromobility established the SRTS State Agency Working Group to develop an accompanying comprehensive SRTS Coordinator Toolkit and provide ongoing assistance to the coordinators. This group includes representatives from The Secretary’s Office, SHA, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP), the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). Its primary goal is to enhance safety around schools—particularly for students walking and biking—by expanding the number of SRTS coordinators across Maryland. Within the Working Group, partner agencies provide technical guidance on strategies and contribute information and data for external technical resources.
MDOT SRTS Resources
The SRTS Coordinators Toolkit serves as a comprehensive guide for local SRTS coordinators and communities seeking to improve the safety and accessibility of routes for students traveling to and from school in Maryland. The toolkit outlines SRTS program goals, highlights proven strategies, and provides Maryland-specific resources, while supporting MDOT initiatives such as Serious About Safety, Complete Streets, Vision Zero, and MDOT-administered grant programs.
The Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) leads MDOT’s charge to educate about safe behavior on our roadways. On their website, MHSO offers media toolkits, digital resources, and educational materials on a variety of safety topics, including several campaigns aimed towards school aged children. Browse topics on their website, including materials about School Bus Safety and Cheswick the Crab, Maryland’s Traffic Safety Mascot.
SRTS Funding Sources and Additional Resources:
Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)
- How The Program Works: TAP is a competitively selected, federally funded, reimbursement program administered by the State Highway Administration. SRTS project and initiatives through TAP facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic around schools. TAP funds are awarded to fund 80% of the project and require a 20% match.
- Project Eligibility: Feasibility studies, design projects, construction projects, and safety awareness and program coordination projects, are all projects eligible under TAP Funding.
- Program Contacts: Britney Jackson, Grants & Programs Team Leader, Grants and Programs Management (GPMD) Division, SHA [email protected].
- Website: Transportation Alternatives Program
Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) Safety Grant
- How The Program Works: MHSO Safety Grants target changing behaviors through education, engagement, and enforcement to improve traffic safety in Maryland directly relating to SRTS initiatives. This is a 100% reimbursable grant.
- Project Eligibility: MHSO Safety Grants can fund behavioral safety pilot projects, safety projects related to the Maryland Strategic Highway Safety Plan, safety campaigns, educational materials, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) countermeasures that are proven.
- Program Contacts: Cynthia Spriggs, Pedestrian/Bicycle/Speed/Aggressive Programs Manager, MHSO, MVA
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- Website: MDOT MVA Highway Safety Grants & Projects for Safety
Partner Agencies
SRTS in Maryland is a partnership between state agencies and local partners. Check out some of our partner agency websites below.
Safe Routes Partnership
The Safe Routes Partnership is a national recognized nonprofit dedicated to making it safe and easy for people to walk, roll, and bike to school and in daily life. As the leader of SRTS initiatives, they work to improve health, well-being, and create thriving communities through active transportation.
The Safe Routes Partnership offers extensive resources, tools, and expertise to help communities implement safe and equitable transportation solutions.
Resource Library: saferoutespartnership.org/resources/
For questions related to the SRTS program, MDOT’s efforts, and SRTS Coordinators, please reach out to Meg Young, Deputy Director of the Office of Active Transportation and Micromobility, [email protected].