Most people think of New Jersey as an urban place -- after all, it has the highest population density in the country. There are many dense urban cities and suburban communities, but there are also large rural areas with small towns and open spaces. Contrary to what you might initially think, there are lessons to be learned in New Jersey about Safe Routes to School in rural settings.
Just in time for International Walk to School Day, a new study has been published in the Journal of the American Planning Association that confirms what those of us in the field have long known: Safe Routes to School programs are effective at increasing rates of walking and bicycling to and from school.
When I came to the Safe Routes Partnership more than a year and a half ago, I was encouraged by our founder Deb Hubsmith to do two things. First, find every way to raise the drum beat of equity in my work, and second, read profusely to gain best practices and tactics to push progress forward.
For years, public health and community transportation planning worked together like kids at an sixth grade dance: boys on one side, girls on the other. They see each other, but there’s not much, if any, mingling.
The largest jurisdiction in the Greater Washington, DC region has just completed its first health impact assessment (HIA), assessing the potential health impacts of a proposed transit center along a state highway corridor.
The Greek philosopher Thales and the Roman poet Juvenal both wrote about the way in which physical health and mental health are intertwined, seeking the ideal of a “sound mind in a sound body.”