Central Texas school carpooling grant program to launch next year

A new grant program aims to minimize congestion and improve school pickup and drop-off operations at Central Texas campuses.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new grant program aims to minimize congestion and improve school pickup and drop-off operations at Central Texas campuses.

Austin-based transportation management association Movability is launching its SchoolPool grant program, an initiative to help financially incentivize carpooling among school campus families. The program hopes to "reduce the number of vehicles congesting roads and school pickup zones by offering parents and caregivers a safe and seamless way to create carpool networks," Movability officials said in a release.

Movability will pilot the SchoolPool program during the 2024-25 academic year. Chosen schools will receive a $500 grant to help create their own carpool, bikepool or walkpool programs, with the funds covering the costs of any school resources to create and attract participants.

"If you've ever driven by a school during the morning and evening rush hour, you've seen those huge lines that are really creating a lot of congestion and also, the idling cars are impacting our air quality," said Lonny Stern, Movability's executive director. "And we decided that's really an opportunity to create some impact."

Movability is expected to launch next school year in partnership with 12 elementary and middle school campuses across the Central Texas region. Those include public, charter and private schools, with Stern adding Movability hopes to learn how different schools engage with the program.

Ideally, the program hopes to partner with schools that have shown an interest in carpooling initiatives or express lanes already, given that'll help encourage more participation at the onset. Stern said Movability also wants to work with these campuses to do car counts and monitor the program's success throughout its pilot year.

Once schools are selected, they will receive the initial $500 grant as well as an additional $100 every other month for either maintaining or increasing the number of participants in their campus' SchoolPool program.

Stern said the launch of the program is particularly timely, given both the region's exponential growth as well as a slew of major transportation projects poised to begin construction in the near-term future. Those planned improvements will bring with them even more congestion — amplifying the need for opportunities to minimize the number of cars commuting, Stern added.

"Whether or not you want to ride a bus or a train, doing something as simple as sharing the ride in the morning and evening can really help us to reduce traffic congestion," he said. "If you can help us by joining SchoolPool this year, we hope to scale it across the region, all of Central Texas in the years to come."

Those interested can apply for the grant funding online through April 9. More information on Movability is also available on its website.