SALINAS VALLEY — Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) is recruiting community members to participate in the Salinas Valley Safe Routes to School Steering Committees in each of the four South Monterey County cities of King City, Greenfield, Soledad and Gonzales.
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a program in Monterey County focused on reducing traffic around schools, improving safety for students during their school commute and encouraging youth to be more active.
“The SRTS Steering Committees will help inform the Salinas Valley SRTS Plan and advocate for top priority projects that will begin implementation in spring 2024,” according to TAMC officials.
Over the course of eight months, the Steering Committees will design and implement a participatory budgeting process, in which community members can vote on the safe street projects that are most important to them.
TAMC will provide up to $250,000 to the cities to build the top-voted projects.
“Participatory budgeting is a democratic process where community members get to decide how to allocate funding to Safe Routes to School projects,” TAMC officials stated.
Each city’s Steering Committee will consist of about 15 members that represent the diverse community, including students, parents, residents, schools and community organizations. Steering Committee members will be compensated for their time.
To participate in the King City or Gonzales Steering Committees, which will conduct their activities this spring, applications are due by Friday, March 24. The application can be found online at: bit.ly/steeringcommittee2023 (English) and bit.ly/comitedirectivo2023 (Spanish).
For more information, or any questions, email ja*****@ta**********.org.
