Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #134: April 2017
Safe Routes to School E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes Partnership. We are also on Facebook and Twitter. Join us!
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- Registration for the 2017 National Walking Summit Now Open!
- Join Today’s #MoveEquity Tweetchat: End Street Harassment to Support Biking and Walking
- Next Up for Congress: Government Funding and Taxes
- Earn Cash Awards to Support Biking and Walking at Your School With Fire Up Your Feet
- News from the Field: Changes Sought to California's Active Transportation Program to Elevate Safe Routes to School
- Two Upcoming Active Transportation Webinars
- Raise Funds with Active Schools Fundraising During Bike to School Month
- Take the PeopleForBikes Community Survey
- Featured Partner: Skillastics and Fitivities
- Be Safe – Be Seen Product Line Benefits the Safe Routes Partnership
- National Public Health Week: April 3-9
- Highlighted Blogs
1. Registration for the 2017 National Walking Summit Now Open!
Join planners, architects, advocates, public health leaders, elected officials and other professionals this fall at the 2017 National Walking Summit in St. Paul, MN, September 13-17. Sponsored by America Walks and the Every Body Walk! Collaborative, the Summit is the premier national event centered on walking and walkability.
We’ll come together with walking advocates to share diverse perspectives, strategies, and best practices for working together to elevate the power of walking and Safe Routes to School in creating healthy, safe, and active communities. Safe Routes to School advocates and practitioners will benefit from an in-depth training on the first day of the conference, as well as program sessions throughout the conference that focus on the link between walking, walkable communities, and Safe Routes to School.. Explore the program and register for this exciting event here.
2. Join Today’s #MoveEquity Tweetchat: End Street Harassment to Support Biking and Walking
Everyone deserves opportunities to walk, bike, and be physically active in their community. However, there are barriers to safe walking and biking that go beyond infrastructure and traffic. Many people, particularly girls and women, people of color, and the LGTBQ community, face aggressive comments, threats, microaggressions, and other types of street harassment while walking, biking, and taking transit.
In conjunction with Anti-Street Harassment Week, the Safe Routes Partnership invites partners and advocates to join a conversation on Twitter to discuss the risks and challenges that street harassment poses as people walk, bike, or take transit to work, school, and other destinations, and how advocates and community members can address street harassment as a barrier to walking and biking.
Join us today, April 5, at 10am Pacific on Twitter using the hashtag #MoveEquity.
3. Next Up for Congress: Government Funding and Taxes
In the aftermath of the failure of the repeal of Obamacare, Congress must now quickly figure out how to handle funding the government this year and next, with President Trump requesting major cuts across most federal agencies. Tax reform and infrastructure could be the next major priority on the agenda—which are also complicated issues where agreement may be challenging to reach. Learn more in our federal policy blog.
4. Earn Cash Awards to Support Biking and Walking at Your School With Fire Up Your Feet
The Safe Routes Partnership makes it easy for your school to get motivated to be active when you participate in the Fire Up Your Feet Activity Challenge! It’s free to participate, and your school could win cash awards to support walking, biking, and physical activity programs.
Spring Activity Challenge dates:
- April 15-May 15 in California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Metro Atlanta
- May 1-31 in Oregon, SW Washington, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC
Anyone can register (parents, teachers, community members) and track physical activity for any K-8 school in participating regions. Schools can have one person tracking activity or 100 – it’s up to you. Schools can earn cash awards for tracking any and all types of physical activity, any time of day, and participation is FREE. We have $90,000 available in cash awards for K-8 schools this spring. Visit fireupyourfeet.org and sign up today!
NEW: Fire Up Your Feet, Amerigroup Foundation Reward Active Clark County, Nevada Kids and Families
Thanks to a $15,000 Amerigroup Foundation grant to the Safe Routes Partnership’s Fire Up Your Feet Challenge, Clark County K-8 schools have extra motivation to be active this spring. During the April 15-May 15 Challenge, $5,000 in awards and prizes will be awarded to K-8 schools in Clark County to support physical activity and health programs. New this year, a “60 Minutes Per Day” Award will go to the school with the most days of at least 10 participants tracking 60 minutes or more of physical activity during the 30 day challenge. Read the full press release here.
Register here: nevada.fireupyourfeet.org.
5. Changes Sought to California's Active Transportation Program to Elevate Safe Routes to School
The Safe Routes Partnership's California policy staff is working with several other California active transportation partners to improve the competitiveness of Safe Routes to School projects within the Active Transportation Program (ATP), the state's primary source of funds for walking and bicycling. The program just awarded grants from its third cycle, and while Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects continue to do well, non-infrastructure and planning projects are struggling to compete against larger infrastructure projects in this heavily oversubscribed funding program. To boost their chances, we are introducing legislation to establish a set-aside for non-infrastructure and planning within ATP as part of a set-aside for small projects under $1 million. The legislation will be part of a budget trailer bill in the California State Assembly that also seeks to boost funding for ATP by $100 million annually, with funding coming from cap-and-trade revenue. We are also working with the California Transportation Commission and Caltrans staff to make changes administratively before the next Cycle begins in 2018, including creating a separate application for non-infrastructure and planning projects and different scoring rubric.
6. Two Upcoming Active Transportation Webinars
April 13: Return on Investment in Active Transportation
As funds for infrastructure development become increasingly limited, it is important that cities are making decisions that maximize the impact of each dollar spent. This means that cities have become more creative and paid more attention to approaches that not only improve the local economy, but also improve the health and quality of life for their community members. Cities around the world are discovering and harnessing improvements in their active transportation infrastructure to benefit their cities.
Please join Alliance for a Healthy Orange County (AHOC) and Safe Routes Partnership (Safe Routes Partnership) as we hear from experts in active transportation and the positive impact it has on the local community.
April 13, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Eastern
Register here
May 2: Best Practices for Communicating and Using Safe Routes to School Data
Reporting progress toward program goals is crucial for supporting and growing Safe Routes to School initiatives. This webinar will explore effective strategies for collecting and using relevant data at the local, regional, and state levels. Speakers will discuss data collection, data-informed decision making, and how to communicate results effectively.
May 2, 1-2 p.m. Eastern
Register here
7. Raise Funds With Active Schools Fundraising During Bike to School Month
Looking to raise funds for your school? Participating in Bike to School? Add Active Schools Fundraising to promote Bike to School Month (May) and raise funds at the same time. Plus, chance to win prizes.
8. Take the PeopleForBikes Community Survey
Just 10 more days to take the PeopleForBikes Community Survey and help make bike riding better in your hometown! Anyone can participate regardless of where, how or why they ride. Your feedback will help determine your city’s rank and guide improvements to bicycle networks as part of the PlacesForBikes initiative.
9. Be Safe – Be Seen Product Line Benefits the Safe Routes Partnership
ImSafe has graciously partnered with the Safe Routes Partnership to offer a Be Safe - Be Seen product line that will benefit the Safe Routes Partnership. Plus, a discount for you!
10. Featured Partner: Skillastics and Fitivities
Sandy Spin Slade, Inc. dba Skillastics and Fitivities is providing you a $5, $10, or $15 discount plus a proceed to the Safe Routes Partnership for all orders that use code SRTS16. For more information, click here.
Skillastics is a series of evidence-based oversize board games that develop children's fitness and sport skills by fully engaging up to 100 children at one time in an organized, fun, and non-competitive atmosphere. Fitivities is the award-winning sidekick to Skillastics, a series of fitness games enjoyed by over 10 million students nationwide! Great to play alone or with friends, Fitivities is a burst of fun and fitness that is every parent’s hidden secret in a game’s disguise!
11. National Public Health Week April 3-9
Join the American Public Health Association in celebrating National Public Health Week 2017 and become part of a growing movement to create the healthiest nation in one generation. Changing our health means ensuring conditions that give everyone the opportunity to be healthy. Become a part of the movement for change.
Street Harassment is an Overlooked Barrier to Walking, Biking, and Physical Activity
Fostering a Culture of Walking and Biking at Los Amigos Technical Academy
Creating a Playful Walking Corridor at Los Pueblos Pre K-8