About Us
We are a national nonprofit organization working to advance safe walking and rolling to and from schools and in everyday life, improving the health and well-being of people of all races, income levels, and abilities, and building healthy, thriving communities for everyone.
Our staff is comprised of national experts who are experienced with the challenges of making change on the local level.
Why Us?
Community-Based
We put community members at the center of the process so that their ideas and priorities directly shape the planning, program, and policy outcomes.
Collaborative Communication
Stakeholders come to the table each with their own set of concerns and priorities. We know how to communicate in ways that are relevant to different groups of stakeholders, and most importantly, listen.
Deeply Engaged
We are deeply integrated into the movement of creating vibrant, healthy, thriving communities – and this big picture vision is infused into every detail of our work.
Visionary & Viable
Our clients want to create healthy streets and livable spaces with long-lasting benefits to the community. We are committed to providing you with outcomes in the form of policies, programs, and knowledge that bring value to your community long after our contract is complete.
Our Services: Solutions for You
Policy Development and Planning
Policy assessments or scans, new policies tailored to community needs, and supporting walking, bicycling, and Safe Routes to School through action plans, comprehensive plans, area plans, zoning regulations, and other plans and policy documents.
- A core component of the Safe Routes to School Launch Program is developing an initial action plan with goals and action steps designed to move the community forward on shared objectives. Several past participants have successfully used their action plans to secure implementation funding.
Training, Professional Development, and Capacity Building
Tailored in-person and virtual trainings, workshops, educational presentations, and capacity building toolkit on topics ranging from policy development to programming to general education around Safe Routes to School and active transportation. The Safe Routes Learning Center Workshop and Training Catalog describes our workshops and trainings, which are customizable to fit the needs of your community or organization.
- In Houston, Texas, a series of five webinars that began with Starting and Growing a Strong Safe Routes to School Program introduced planners, engineers, school administrators, and community members to the core concepts of Safe Routes to School and strategies for local implementation.
Community Engagement and Coalition Building
Equitable and meaningful in-person and virtual engagement using strategies such as interactive community workshops, arts-based activities, walk and bicycle audits, and surveys. Community engagement toolkits and trainings, public participation plans, and communication strategies. Stakeholder assessment, training and capacity building for coalitions, meeting facilitation, and community campaign development.
- Working Together to Make Meaningful Change: A Toolkit for Engaging Communities Across Colorado offers tips and strategies for engaging communities based on an engagement framework centering community member at the heart of the process. The toolkit was complemented by a series of virtual trainings for local agency staff.
Research and Analysis
Data collection, policy research, best practices identification, case studies, and program evaluation presented in reports, fact sheets and memos tailored to the specific community’s needs and framed for specific audiences.
- In Birmingham, Alabama, we provided local leaders engaged in Safe Routes to School and Complete Streets with guidance on best practices related to a number of local initiatives, resulting in strong programs and continued support for walking and bicycling. This included research and memos on tactical urbanism, improving school arrival and dismissal, volunteer engagement, and Complete Streets implementation.
Safe Routes to School Program Development
Designing and troubleshooting walking school buses, volunteer approaches, taskforces or committees, and other aspects of running Safe Routes to School programs. Tailored youth education and broader community education programs around walking and bicycling.
- Step by Step: How to Start a Walking School Bus at Your School outlines how to plan and implement a walking school bus, and includes proven tools, tips and resources for a fast and easy start. A public webinar and additional trainings and one-on-one technical assistance helped communities use the guide to start programs at their schools using adult volunteers.
Project Implementation Assistance
Identifying funding opportunities, providing grant application support, and guidance on navigating government processes for implementing walking, bicycling, and Safe Routes to School projects and programs.
- Webinars and guidebooks like What’s the Status of Federal Funding for Safe Routes to School, Walking, and Bicycling? and California’s Active Transportation Program: A Step-By-Step Guide to the Application Process help communities understand funding availability and processes. In addition to these resources, we are providing technical assistance, and in some cases grant writing support, directly to municipalities and community organizations as they apply for funding.
We look forward to working together to get results in your community.