June 2012

I love living in Southern California, especially the Los Angeles neighborhood I call

This week, Congress is voting on a new two-year transportation bill, called MAP-21, that will make significant changes to federal transportation policy that negatively impact bicycling and walking programs.  Please see our joint statement with the America Bikes coalition for information on the effec

After growing up playing on the school playground, I was dismayed to start seeing fences and locked gates at schools. The whole community feeling changed to a prison atmosphere, but to keep people out. John O.

Last week I was in a communications training with other nonprofit groups - a really good one, by the way, from Spitfire Communications, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We were tasked throughout the week with writing stories, creating elevator speeches and developing communications plans. I learned a lot.

The Safe Routes to School movement and interest in improving the built environment continue to grow. Here are two resources that I’m sure the field will be excited about:

Deja Vu: House Aims to Eliminate Local Funds for Safe Routes
Act Now to Save Safe Routes to School, Bicycling and Walking Funds
 
It’s come down to a fight for local control.  Negotiations on the federal transportation bill are at a critical point and twenty years of gains on bicycling, walking and Safe Routes to School are at risk.