Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #136: June 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!
To receive future issues of E-News, sign up here.
- Don’t Miss Early Bird Registration for the National Walking Summit
- Leaders Wanted to Join the Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center
- Trump Infrastructure Proposal Paired with Budget Cuts; TAP Use It or Lose It Funds
- Free Webinar June 15: Using Pop-Ups to Promote Safe Routes to School
- Walking the Walk in Salem, Oregon
- That’s a Wrap for the Fire Up Your Feet Spring Activity Challenge!
- Safe Routes to School Volunteer? Take Our Survey!
- Join the Movement with PeopleForBikes
- Featured Partner: Cycliq
1. Don't Miss Early Bird Registration for the National Walking Summit
Join us with America Walks at the 2017 Walking Summit in St. Paul, MN September 13-15, 2017, to connect with walking advocates 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.
Register by July 15 to take advantage of early bird rates!
Already registered? Download the free 2017 National Walking Summit smart phone app. You’ll be able to learn more about the program, create a personalized summit schedule, see which of your colleagues are attending (and which ones still need to sign up), interact with conference speakers, and more!
2. Leaders Wanted to Join the Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center
Are you actively working on physical activity or nutrition policy? Get connected as a leader with the Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center to receive exclusive policy updates, action-on-the-go capabilities, and be connected to a larger network of advocates.
3. Trump Infrastructure Proposal Paired with Budget Cuts; TAP Use It or Lose It Funds
In May, the Trump Administration released their proposed FY2018 budget, which included significant cuts to new transit projects, nutrition and physical activity programs, and more. An outline of Trump’s infrastructure proposal was also included, revealing infrastructure is much broader than transportation, and would be targeted to projects that can generate revenue through tolling, taxes, and other methods. We have highlighted key aspects of the budget and the infrastructure piece in our federal policy blog.
While Congress is likely to take months to resolve 2018 spending, there’s an immediate need for action in many states. Funds allocated in 2014 to the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) will expire at the end of September 2017 if states don’t obligate them. Our new quarterly report has been updated to show the amount of funds that are at risk—two-thirds of states have about $190 million of TAP funds at risk. We urge advocates to work together and talk with their state Department of Transportation to ensure that no TAP funds are lost.
4. Free Webinar June 15: Using Pop-Ups to Promote Safe Routes to School
So you want to make an intersection safer? What would help you visualize that: a temporary traffic installation to show road users and community members what the street could look and feel like, or a lengthy report with diagrams and memos?
Our free webinar on June 15 at 1:00 p.m.Eastern will cover how pop-up projects can be used to advance Safe Routes to School, provide examples from communities that have used pop-up installations to make the case for Safe Routes to School, and discuss resources available to help you create a pop-up Safe Routes to School project in your own community. Register here.
5. Walking the Walk in Salem, Oregon
The Safe Routes Partnership partnered with AARP Oregon, Kaiser Permanente, Oregon's Transportation & Growth Management Program, and the City of Salem to bring two walkability workshops to Salem, Oregon on May 24. After an introduction from Salem's Mayor Bennett, two dozen staff from the city, county, regional, and state government joined a walking audit around downtown Salem with nationally renowned walking expert Dan Burden, best known for his work with Walk Score. Mr Burden then led the staff in a mapping exercise on how to build walkability into the city's existing and future plans and make Salem a more walkable destination. That same evening, Mr Burden led a walking audit at the Center 50+, a community center for older adults, and gave a short presentation on how the community can support and encourage the city's efforts toward an active and age-friendly transportation network in Salem.
Learn more about advancing walkability in Salem and how to get involved in our work in the Pacific Northwest here.
6. Congratulations, Fire Up Your Feet Winners!
High fives and congratulations to all the schools that participated in the Fire Up Your Feet Spring Activity Challenge! Winners have been announced in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Atlanta, and Nevada, and our tabulators are hard at work calculating final results for Oregon, SW Washington, Michigan, Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
If you participated in the Spring Activity Challenge, please take a few minutes to complete our survey for the chance to win a Cycliq Fly6 bike camera.
7. Calling All Volunteers and SRTS Coordinators - Please Take Our Survey!
Volunteers are an important part of the Safe Routes to School program, and we want to hear from you! This survey is about and for Safe Routes to School program champions and volunteers. The goal is to explore what motivates and sustains those who volunteer their time for a Safe Routes to School Program, and to understand how Safe Routes to School coordinators manage and recruit volunteers. We hope this information will assist practitioners and advocates on various ways to develop, support, and sustain a Safe Routes to School program.
Please take the survey yourself, and pass along to other volunteers or those that volunteer for your Safe Routes to School program. The survey should take about 15-20 minutes and is open until June 30. Thank you!
The Safe Routes Partnership would like to thank Cycliq for donating more than $26,000 in product to support Active Schools Fundraising and Fire Up Your Feet.
Cycliq’s mission is to raise awareness for road safety. Cycliq wants to make road users aware they’re being recorded in the hope that everybody provides each other additional space and respect while sharing the road. Consequently, this makes road cycling safer and more enjoyable for everyone. cycliq.com
Enjoy this special offer from Cycliq: 15 percent off any purchase of Fly6v and Fly12 that use code RideSafe2School.
9. Join the Movement With PeopleForBikes
PeopleForBikes gets more people riding bikes more often and makes bicycling better for everyone across the U.S. They work to advance bike project funding and pro-bike laws, support communities as they quickly build better places for bikes, and promote the many benefits of bicycling. Join them at peopleforbikes.org/join.