Last week I was in a communications training with other nonprofit groups - a really good one, by the way, from Spitfire Communications, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We were tasked throughout the week with writing stories, creating elevator speeches and developing communications plans. I learned a lot.
While all states have a SRTS coordinator, few, if any, have been at it as long as Pat Pieratte with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). She just retired after 35 years with the department, serving six years as the SRTS coordinator. Before she left to go folk dancing in Croatia and Slovenia, there was a gathering to talk about her successes and wish her well.
Answering this is easy. The Safe Routes Partnership works to make changes to the built environment so that generations of children can bicycle and walk to school. Not only is it a great way to improve children’s lives, but it reminds adults about the simple joys of walking and bicycling with their family, friends and neighbors.
Since the passage of the new federal Transportation bill (MAP-21) on July 6, I have heard “Oh, isn’t Safe Routes to School dead?”
The answer is a resounding NO!
IT’S ALIVE!
By now, you’ve likely heard that the new transportation bill, MAP-21, consolidated bicycling and walking programs into a new program called Transportation Alternatives, and that overall funding was cut by approximately 30 percent. However, the details vary quite a bit state by state.
“I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
- Jesse Owens
The Washington State Safe Routes to School program has strong state support. In 2005, the state legislature made a 16 year commitment towards the safety of children walking and bicycling to school. Since that time there have been: four complete funding cycles; $31 million awarded – about $21 million in federal funds and $10 million in state funds; a 21 percent increase in children walking and bicycling to school; Washington State Safe Routes to School was codified into state law RCW 47.04.300 in 2009; and 95 projects – 39 complete and 56 underway.
On the heels of our Greater Washington, DC area regional Complete Streets policy, the National Complete Streets Coalition (NCSC) released their
Many of the ideas presented are simple, but have immense potential to improve the overall success, health and well-being of our City’s students. This Active Design Toolkit for Schools provides ideas and resources to incorporate active design into your school.
During the opening plenary session at ProWalk/ProBike in Long Beach, Suja Lowenthal, PhD, a council member from Long Beach, addressed the attendees. She’s a passionate advocate, sharing many ideals so many of us do, but I strongly agreed when she declared that our communities are not bike-friendly until mothers with children feel comfortable taking to the streets. That is such an importa
While the overwhelming majority of driving occurs within metropolitan areas, many large urban highways and arterial roads cost substantially more money to maintain than they generate in fuel taxes.
October is such a great time of year.Everywhere I look lately, no matter what city or town I am visiting, I see more children and families walking and bicycling to school, the park, other destinations and just for fun.
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, was formed in 2005 as a response to the dramatic increase in prevalence of childhood obesity across the nation.
This website provides a list of different audits for various settings and environmental attributes. The general purpose of an audit is to identify concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists related to the safety, access, comfort, and convenience of the environment.
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a region’s approved list of specific transportation projects mandated by federal law. It serves as a multi-year financial schedule for obligating federal funds to state and local transportation projects. The TIP contains funding information for all modes of transportation including bicycle and pedestrian projects.
As the project progresses, it will offer more precise benchmarks and recommendations for advocates and government officials so that they have the data they need to improve bicycling and walking in the United States and eventually all of North America.
I recently had the privilege of speaking at the Fairfax County Bike Summit. It was the first Bike Summit in the county. Fairfax County has come a long way through the work of the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling.
Florida has had great success with Safe Routes to School under SAFETEA-LU, with more than 235 applications ($68.8 million) being funded. The average Safe Routes to School project funded was $292,766. There has been a call for infrastructure applications each fall through spring. Spring 2012 ended the 6th call for projects. These projects will be in the 2017 work program. The average return on these projects was an increase of 22 percent of children walking to and from school. The program works!
These PowerPoint slides summarize MAP-21, its impact on transportation funding, and opportunities for supporting walking/biking projects.
There are a number of exciting Safe Routes to Schools initiatives taking place around the state of Mississippi and the momentum continues. The Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program has opened up its fourth funding cycle.