By JENNY NIXON CARTER Correspondent

Fewer and fewer children who live close to school regularly walk or ride a bike to classes. And this is largely due to safety concerns: speeding traffic, distracted drivers and inadequate sidewalks or other pedestrian infrastructure.

The Safe Routes to School program is a national program that looks to reverse this trend. The goal of the SRTS program is to enable and encourage children to safely walk and bike to school. Not only does it work to educate children and give them the skills to get to school safely, but it also works to address infrastructure needs that may prevent children from walking and biking. In the process, programs are working to reduce traffic congestion and improve health and the environment, making communities more livable for everyone.

To that end, the National Center for Safe Routes to School is accepting applications for up to 35 mini-grants for creative, youth-focused ideas that support safe walking and/or bicycling to school. Eligible activities must occur at an elementary or middle school in Fall 2010 and must support the goal of encouraging kids to safely walk and bike to school.

Successful applications for the National Center's SRTS mini-grant program will focus on either increasing safe walking and/or bicycling to school or improving the safety of students already walking and/or bicycling to school.

Activities may also explore a variety of issues related to SRTS, including physical activity and environmental benefits, distracted driving, personal safety, integrating children with disabilities and community building.

In addition to grant opportunities available through the national SRTS center, the Vermont Agency of Transportation's SRTS program has allocated funding for infrastructure projects in participating SRTS communities. The only schools eligible to receive funding under this statewide program are those that participated in the 2006, 2008 or 2009 non-infrastructure phase of the Vermont SRTS program.

The Vermont program will fund technical assistance, planning, design and construction of infrastructure projects with a goal of removing barriers that deter students from walking and bicycling to school in Vermont. Projects must be "in the vicinity of schools" which is defined as the area within bicycling and walking distance of the school (approximately 2 miles).

Programs such as SRTS are important for the health of our children. Rutland County is home to one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the state of Vermont. One of the best opportunities to address this obesity epidemic is to increase regular, routine physical activity like walking or bicycling to school.

For more information about the mini-grants available from the National Center for Safe Routes to School, please go to: www.saferoutesinfo.org/minigrants. And for information about the Vermont Safe Routes to Schools grant opportunities is available online or by contacting Aimee Pope, Vermont Safe Routes to School Coordinator at 828-5799.

(Jenny Nixon Carter is the executive director of the Rutland Area Physical Activity Coalition. For more information on RAPAC, go to: www.rapac.info.)