Brooke DriesseA couple of exciting Pro Walk/Pro Bike® Conference updates (September 10-13 in Long Beach, CA)! First, check out their new website – everything is so easy to find, including their recently released program.

I’m especially looking forward to SRTS + Beyond track. This track includes presentations that focus on improving the safety, desirability and ease of movement for young people walking or bicycling to/from school. Expect to see a variety of proposals, ranging from best practices for including youth in planning; exemplary Safe Routes to School programs (K-12); developing schools as neighborhood assets/destinations; and developing community-wide youth mobility plans.

If you haven’t yet registered yet for Pro Walk Pro Bike, great news – they extended their early bird registration to July 12. So register soon to make sure you don’t miss out.

And, don’t forget to sign up for our free Annual Meeting when you register for Pro Walk Pro Bike. It is Monday, September 10 from 1-5pm in conjunction with Pro Walk Pro Bike. Come learn how to sustain your Safe Routes to School program at the state, regional and local levels, get a timely federal update and attend one of our ever-popular breakout groups.

Speaking of breakout groups, we finalized our list and wanted to share them so you could start thinking now about which one you’d like to attend:

  • Challenges in rural areas
  • Challenges in urban areas
  • Engaging youth
  • Getting Safe Routes to School funds awarded and obligated
  • Getting ready for the next federal bill
  • Institutionalizing Safe Routes to School
  • Safe Routes to School and health
  • School Siting and diversity

There will also be ample time to network with fellow Safe Routes to School enthusiasts at both the Annual Meeting and our Safe Routes Social taking place immediately after from 5-6pm. You won't want to miss either of these two great (and free) events! If you are interested in attending just the Safe Routes Partnership’s Annual Meeting, walk-in registration will be available or you can email me and I’ll add you to the list.