Most of us of a certain age certainly remember walking to school for the majority of our elementary, middle and high school careers, if we lived less than a mile from our schools.

With more and more cars on the roads, however, that’s become a pretty precarious situation for many children in our region. Especially in those areas where there aren’t sidewalks.

The state Department of Transportation today announced federal funds that would be distributed throughout the Lower Hudson Valley under the “Safe Routes to School” program.

The idea is to make “bicycling and walking a safer and more appealing transportation alternative.”

Here are the 13 communities or districts that will receive money under the program:

• Village of Kaser, Rockland County – $270,000 for sidewalks on Blauvelt Road
• Dobbs Ferry Union Free School District, Westchester County – $365,000 for outside stair improvements at Springhurst Elementary
• Village of Pelham Manor, Westchester County – $330,466 for pedestrian enhancements at Siwanoy and Prospect Hill elementary schools
• Village of Irvington, Westchester County – $228,723 for pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements
• Irvington Union Free School District, Westchester County – $115,958 for bicycle and pedestrian safety
• Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District, Westchester County- $25,125 for pedestrian safety education
• Village of Ardsley, Westchester County – $468,000 for Ardsley Middle School walk-to- school program
• Westchester County Department of Public Works – $150,000 for Safe Routes to School public service announcements.

• Town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County – $423,500 for sidewalk connections at Violet Elementary School
• Orange County – $410,000 for Newburgh / Union Avenue connection walkway
• Village of Chatham, Columbia County – $396,000 for pedestrian safety enhancements
• Town of Plattekill, Ulster County – $400,000 for sidewalks at Plattekill Elementary School
• Clare F. Ostrander Elementary School, Ulster County – $25,930 for bicycle and pedestrian safety