We started growing seeds for our garden over the weekend and as I sat down to write my blog this week I was struck by how working to grow awareness and engagement for Safe Routes to School is similar to the growth of our seedlings. 

On October 17, 2011, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) awarded $66 million to local and regional agencies for a total of 139 federally-funded Safe Routes to School projects.

The team of policy managers working on the Regional network project has been incredibly busy in 2012, and as I have reflected on their work in the past month, in particular, the importance of numbers has stood out. By “numbers,” I specifically mean data and statistics. 

As of March 31, 2012, 37 elementary and middle schools in Delaware have ongoing school-level Safe Routes to School programs. This represents about 20 percent of Safe Routes to School-eligible Delaware public schools, including charter schools. Private schools serving students in grades K-8 are also eligible. Six schools in Delaware were awarded consultant planning assistance in January 2012 using federal Safe Routes to School program funding.

In the US, men's cycling trips surpass women's by at least 2:1. So how do we change that? We start by simply inviting women to participate. On May 13, there were 163 women-focused rides in 14 countries, including the US.