Press Release  MassDOT Announces Award Recipients for the 2025-2026 Safe Routes to School Bike Rack Grant

BOSTON — MassDOT, through its Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, is pleased to announce the awardees of its 2025-2026 Bike Rack Grant. The intent of this grant is to promote walking, biking, and rolling to school by either providing schools that lack them with bike racks, replacing old, worn, or damaged bike racks, or adding more bike parking spaces for schools with overflowing bike racks.    

The application period opened on October 31, 2025, and all applications were due on November 14, 2025. All SRTS partner schools (that have been partners for at least 6 months as of 10/31/25) were encouraged to apply. The bike racks are intended to be ordered and installed within the current school year. Over 60 applications were submitted, and the six schools/communities selected this year are as follows:   

• Grafton Street School, Worcester   
• Greenhalge Elementary School, Lowell    
• Linden STEAM Academy, Malden   
• Memorial Elementary School, Hopedale   
• Mulready Elementary School, Hudson   
• Sunderland Elementary School, Sunderland     

“The Massachusetts Safe Routes to School Bike Rack Grant Program allows students the opportunity to choose active, healthy, and sustainable ways to get to school. By investing in safe, secure bike parking, MassDOT is helping schools across the Commonwealth support walking, biking, and rolling. The Healey-Driscoll administration is committed to investing in transportation that improves safety and accessibility, giving families more transportation options. MassDOT is proud to support schools and communities as we all strive to ensure students across the state can safely travel across all modes,” said Interim MassDOT Secretary & MBTA General Manager Phil Eng.        

This is the second round of bike rack grant awardees, not including the successful pilot projects in Medford and Brockton during the 2023-2024 school year. The selected bike racks are customizable, so schools can choose the colors they want and whether they want the racks bolted into the ground or resting on pavement/grass.    

The Massachusetts SRTS Program, sponsored by MassDOT and funded by the Federal Highway Administration, promotes safer routes for students to walk or bike to and from school by fostering partnerships among community-led organizations, local law enforcement, education leaders, and public health departments. The program currently serves nearly 1,300 schools in more than 285 communities across the Commonwealth. Through these partnerships, the Massachusetts SRTS Program highlights the importance of pedestrian and bicycle safety. SRTS also provides information, materials, and resources to support schools and communities with their local SRTS initiatives.     

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