Minnesota Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan
MnSRTS has completed a five-year update to the Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan.
The 2020 Minnesota Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan establishes a five-year action plan to improve walking and biking to school for youth in Minnesota. This document updates the 2015 Strategic Plan, and provides a refined vision and new goals, strategies, action steps, and performance measures to expand, strengthen, and monitor Minnesota’s SRTS program. This document is a tool to guide state and regional SRTS practitioners and partners in building a stronger, more equitable SRTS program at the local, regional, and state levels.
The stakeholder engagement process for Strategic Plan development consisted of a survey, which received 282 responses; 38 follow-up phone interviews; and three listening sessions with state agencies, including MnDOT, Minnesota Department of Health, and Minnesota Department of Education.
Goals
Six overarching goals will guide the implementation of the Strategic Plan over the next five years to make progress towards the established vision:
- Build Local Partners’ Capacity to Implement SRTS
-
Coordinate SRTS Implementation Statewide
-
Increase Awareness of SRTS
-
Develop Process, Policy, and Design Guidance that Supports SRTS
-
Measure Progress, Evaluate Impacts, and Continually Improve the Program
-
Innovate in Program Development and Implementation
Strategic Planning Process
The strategic planning process consisted of three phases:
- Confirm Opportunities and Challenges
- Evaluate and Prioritize Draft Strategies and Recommendations
- Plan Production
Phase 1: Confirm Opportunities and Challenges: Nov. 2019-Feb. 2020
Phase 1 of the strategic planning process began with a workshop on November 26, 2019 to gather feedback for the SRTS Strategic Plan Update from professionals who work on SRTS and related active transportation initiatives across the State of Minnesota. The purpose of the workshop was to identify what is working for SRTS, what needs to be improved, and what the goals and priorities for updates should be moving forward. Input was also gained from practitioners who joined the Statewide MnSRTS Network Calls. An online survey was conducted to validate early findings and to gather feedback about how we can improve Minnesota SRTS. Between February 2 and March 22, 2020, 282 people answered the survey.
Phase 2: Evaluate and Prioritize Draft Strategies and Recommendations: Feb.-Apr. 2020
Phase 2 took place from mid-February through mid-April, involved engaging with SRTS and active transportation stakeholders statewide, including SHIP Coordinators, MnDOT SRTS staff, RDCs/RDOs, MnDOT District Coordinators, SRTS school leaders, and other stakeholders. We engaged these stakeholders through small group discussion during the Statewide SRTS Virtual Meetup (over 100 people engaged in a 2-hour online activity) and conducted 38 interviews and 3 listening sessions with those who indicated they would like to share their thoughts, including MnDOT Office of Transit and Active Transportation, Minnesota Department of Health, and Minnesota Department of Education.