This guest blog post was written by Tiffany Lam, research adviser.
Some schools are experimenting with traffic gardens like the one pictured above. Photo: Fionnuala Quinn/Bureau of Good Roads
“There are too many places in this country where it’s easier to buy a grape soda than a bunch of grapes,” explains Caroline Harries, Associate Director at The Food Trust, when she describes food deserts. Although there are many definitions of food deserts, they are commonly understood as places where fresh, nutritious foods are not accessible within a reasonable or convenient distance to travel. They are often defined as one mile in an urban area and ten miles in a rural area. In a car, those distances are no problem.
Each quarter, we take a look at state progress with implementing the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP). For the quarter covering April to June 2018, states obligated nearly $131 million in TAP funding, with all states except for three making forward progress. (Obligation means that the state DOT has committed funding to a local TAP project and is a key step towards actually getting the project built or implemented.)
Last month, the Safe Routes Partnership released the 2018 version of Making Strides: State Report Cards on Support for Walking, Bicycling, and Active Kids and Communities. The report cards rank states on their policy approaches on a range of areas, including Complete Streets, school siting, physical activity planning, and more.