8-28-12
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 28, 2012
2013 Safe Routes to School National Conference to be held in Sacramento, Calif.
Chapel Hill, NC and Boulder, CO (August 28, 2012) – The National Center for Safe Routes to School and the Safe Routes Partnership are pleased to announce that the fourth Safe Routes to School National Conference will be held in Sacramento, Calif., in August 2013. Safe Routes to School is a national and international movement to create safe, convenient and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from schools, and it can also play a critical role in providing more physical activity and enhancing traffic safety.
The national conference will take place Aug. 13-15, 2013, and will be hosted by the Local Government Commission (LGC), a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization that provides inspiration, technical assistance, and networking to local elected officials and other dedicated community leaders who are working to create healthy, walkable, and resource-efficient communities. The LGC will partner with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD), the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA), and WALKSacramento.
“The Local Government Commission’s commitment to healthy, walkable communities is a great match with the goals of Safe Routes to School and the Conference,” said Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School. “Further, it’s partnering with organizations across many different areas of expertise relevant to Safe Routes to School. We look forward to seeing how the LGC can translate this diversity into creative, innovative conference programming and speakers.”
”The Safe Routes Partnership is thrilled that the 2013 Conference will be in California, the first state to launch a Safe Routes to School program way back in 1999,” said Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes Partnership. “At this time, we need increased leadership for Safe Routes to School at national, state and local levels, and this collaboration with the Local Government Commission and their partners will help us do just that. We urge agency staff, advocates, policy makers, school officials, and everyone interested in the health and safety of our children to attend the Conference so that together we can chart our course for the future and take Safe Routes to School and our thriving movement to the next level. Mark your calendar!”
“The LGC and our project partners are very excited to bring this important national conference to Sacramento next August,” said Judy Corbett, executive director of the Local Government Commission. “Safe Routes to School is strongly rooted in Sacramento, and we are looking forward to both sharing our stories of success and learning from others from across the country about how to create safer, more walkable and bike-friendly communities for our children and families.”
The conference brings together program representatives, state Departments of Transportation, planners, elected officials, and community members to provide an opportunity for individuals, agencies, and organizations involved with Safe Routes to School to network, engage in educational opportunities, become inspired, and form partnerships to enhance their Safe Routes to School work.
The third Safe Routes to School National Conference, held in Minneapolis, Minn., in August 2011, had more than 600 participants in attendance and was a resounding success. To learn more about the 2013 conference, visit www.saferoutesconference.org.
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The National Center for Safe Routes to School, which serves as the clearinghouse for the federal Safe Routes to School program, assists communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bicycle to school. Established in May 2006, the National Center strives to equip Safe Routes to School programs with the knowledge and technical information to implement safe and successful strategies. The National Center is maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. For more information, please visit www.saferoutesinfo.org.
The Safe Routes Partnership was founded in 2005 and is a fast-growing network of more than 600 groups working to set goals, share best practices, leverage infrastructure and program funding and advance policy change to help agencies that implement Safe Routes to School programs across the nation. The Safe Routes Partnership’s mission is to advocate for safe walking and bicycling to and from schools, and in daily life, to improve the health and well-being of America’s children and to foster the creation of livable, sustainable communities. The Safe Routes Partnership is hosted by Bikes Belong Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit which is a sister organization to Bikes Belong Coalition. For more information, please visit www.saferoutespartnership.org.
The Local Government Commission is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization that provides inspiration, technical assistance and networking to local elected officials and other dedicated community leaders who are working to create healthy, walkable and resource-efficient communities. The LGC's membership is composed of local elected officials, city and county staff, planners, architects and community leaders who are committed to making their communities more livable, prosperous and resource-efficient. For more information, please visit www.lgc.org.