Part 2: Show me the money

You can’t do anything without the money. Luckily, money is everywhere. You just have to know where to find it and have the patience to stick with the process.

Sure, the application process can be obtuse. Approval can take almost a year, the grants often reimburse instead of covering costs up front, and the review process - required by many grants at different stages of completion - can halt engineering and construction for six months or more at a time.

But, that doesn’t make it anywhere near impossible. All kinds of projects receive funding every day.

And it is no coincidence when communities do get it. It is because they have deliberately positioned themselves to receive that money – something any community can do.

Dupage County and Northwest Indiana dedicate staff to identifying projects and applying for funding. Smaller agencies like towns, schools and park districts create task forces or bicycle/pedestrian to help prioritize projects for existing staff. The Village of Homewood, for example, is bathing in bucks that its bicycle plan secured. Homewood hired Active Trans to develop that bike plan.

Other times, these smaller agencies do what a small south suburban community did – partner with a larger regional effort.

The Village of Midlothian will soon welcome a new sidewalk so nearby students can walk to school.

“We’ve been trying for years to get this funded,” said Mike Hollingsworth, Superintendent of Midlothian School District 143. “Usually a school district doesn’t fund sidewalks and streets.”

So when a call went out in 2007 to participate in the Southland Safe Routes to School program, Midlothian jumped at the chance. The Southland Safe Routes to School was funded through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program (wonks say CMAQ - “see-mack”). CMAQ grants are awarded to projects that cut down on car pollution and thereby improve the air quality. A partnership between Active Trans, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and the Village of Lansing successfully applied for the program’s funding.

The new sidewalk, which should be constructed by 2010, will dramatically improve students’ walk to school.

“Kids are literally walking in the street,” Hollingsworth said. “Deteriorating buildings, unsafe sidewalks…These are all things that have mental impacts (on students) that go far beyond strategy or in-classroom education,”

Follow the money:
You should consider these questions when looking for a funding source. Or even easier, give us a call and we’ll walk you through it.

• What are the funding sources? There are a lot of them: Transportation Enhancements, CMAQ, Highway Safety Improvement Program, Surface Transportation Program, Recreational Trails Program, Safe Routes to School, IDNR Bikeways, and Traffic Safety...and then there’s private foundation funding. If you want more, the website bicyclinginfo.org/funding is a great place to begin research. If you’ve seen enough, give us a call.
• How is it administered? It might be a state, federal, or a local agency. We have expertise with all three.
• Who can apply? Some grants are open only to towns and village. Others might be open to non-profits.
• What will the grant fund? Most grants fund specific projects. For example, CMAQ grants aim to cut air pollution from motor vehicles. Transportation Enhancements (or TE), support beautification projects and also trails and bikeways. Active Trans can help you match project to dollars.
• Is there a match? Probably. And the funding source probably reimburses you instead of covering invoices up front.