Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #120: February 2016
Safe Routes to School E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes Partnership (Safe Routes Partnership). Our mission is to advance safe walking and bicycling to and from schools, and in daily life, to improve the health and well-being of America’s children and to foster the creation of livable, sustainable communities.
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- Introducing the Safe Routes Learning Center Workshop and Training Catalog
- The Latest from Capitol Hill
- Still Time to Nominate your Local Leader for the Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award
- Welcome New Safe Routes Partnership Staff
- New Fact Sheet Helps Communities Use the Transportation Alternatives Program to Support Healthy Community Design and Active Transportation
- National Conference Keynote Speaker Profile: Gil Penalosa, Founder and Chairman of the Board of 8 80 Cities
- Register for Feb. 10 Webinar: Growing Safe Routes to School in Indian Country
- News from the Field
- Highlighted Blogs
1. 2016 Safe Routes Learning Center Workshop and Training Catalog
The Safe Routes Partnership offers a wide variety of workshops and trainings covering topics including Safe Routes to School, shared use, active transportation, transportation finance, and community engagement. Now, you can browse our offerings in the 2016 Safe Routes Learning Center: Workshop and Training Catalog.
The catalog includes course descriptions, suggested lengths and formats, and a menu of suggested course pairings. We are offering the workshops and trainings to organizations and communities through grant-funded programs and as part of our consulting services. All courses can be customized to meet the needs of your organization or community.
2. The Latest from Capitol Hill
Getting to Know TAP
In the six weeks since Congress passed the FAST Act, the Safe Routes Partnership has been busy educating advocates about what changed and what didn’t in the FAST Act and gathering as much information as we can to help you access the funding. In our latest federal policy blog, you can see an estimate of your state’s TAP funding level for 2016, a simple explanation of how to access TAP funding at the local level, and listen to our January webinar and lengthy Q&A session on the FAST Act. Also, keep your eye out for a new report card assessing each state’s progress on a range of physical activity policies—including specific ratings on their implementation of TAP and Safe Routes to School. This will be an excellent roadmap for advocates on where to focus state and local efforts to maximize funding for Safe Routes to School, bicycling and walking.
3. Still Time to Nominate your Local Leader for the Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award
Do you know a local leader who exemplifies Deb’s leadership, commitment and positive impact on Safe Routes to School advocacy and advancement in their community? Nominate them for the inaugural Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award. The winner of the first Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award will be announced at the 2016 Safe Routes to School National Conference, April 5-7, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio. The honoree will receive a free registration for the 3-day conference plus travel and hotel accommodations. Click here to learn more about the award and submit a nomination.
The call for applications is also open for the 2016 James L. Oberstar Safe Routes to School Award.
4. Welcome New Safe Routes Partnership Staff
The Safe Routes Partnership is pleased to welcome new staff: Marisa Jones as Nutrition and Physical Activity Project Manager, Julie Frank as Senior Manager of Development, Julie McDonald as Fire Up Your Feet Senior Manager, and Hannah Williams as Fire Up Your Feet Program Support Specialist. We are also happy to announce that Bill Sadler, formerly Southern California Regional Policy Manager, is now serving as Senior California Policy Manager.
5. New Fact Sheet Helps Communities Use the Transportation Alternatives Program to Support Healthy Community Design and Active Transportation
A new fact sheet produced by the Safe Routes Partnership helps communities understand how to use the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) to support healthy community design and active transportation. The fact sheet explains how TAP funding is allocated, how much money your state is expected to receive, and types of eligible projects that can be funded by TAP.
6. National Conference Keynote Speaker Profile: Gil Penalosa
Gil Penalosa is passionate about cities for all people. Gil advises decision makers and communities on how to create vibrant cities and healthy communities for everyone regardless of social, economic, or ethnic background. His focus is the design and use of parks and streets as great public places, as well as sustainable mobility: walking, cycling, and public transit. Because of Gil’s unique blend of pragmatism and passion, his leadership and advice is sought out by many cities and organizations. Over the past eight years, Gil has worked in over 180 different cities across six continents. As former Commissioner of Parks, Sport and Recreation for the City of Bogotá, Colombia, Gil was an integral part of the city’s much celebrated transformation of public space and sustainable mobility during the late 1990s. Gil's team initiated the “new Ciclovia,” a program that sees over one million people walk, run, skate, and bike along 121 kilometers of Bogotá’s city roads everySunday, and today is internationally recognized and emulated.
Meet our other keynote speakers and register for the Safe Routes to School National Conference today!
7. Register for Feb. 10 Webinar: Growing Safe Routes to School in Indian Country
February 10, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Register here
Tribal communities have much to gain from increasing active transportation. But they can experience particular challenges to making policy and on-the-ground changes necessary to support active transportation and Safe Routes to School. This webinar builds on the recent publication, Walking and Bicycling in Indian Country: Safe Routes to School in Tribal Communities. The webinar provides an overview of some of the considerations unique to implementing Safe Routes to School in tribal communities, and highlights successful strategies that can assist in overcoming the challenges. The webinar will feature representatives from two Tribes that have improved opportunities for safe walking and bicycling to school through education and encouragement programs, infrastructure improvements, and strong partnerships with outside organizations and agencies.
8. News from the Field
Improving Safety for All Transportation Users in Oregon
In 2015, Oregon realized a 40 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities over 2014, which had also seen an increase over 2013 numbers. The state is working diligently to address the causes of this trend in Oregon. As such, transportation leaders have developed the draft Transportation Safety Action Plan (TSAP) with an online open house on Tuesday, February 9. The plan is one of several statewide plans that defines and implements the state’s goals, policies, strategies, and key initiatives for transportation. The other plan currently open for comment is theOregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. Interested in getting involved? More info.
9. Highlighted Blogs
Portland is First U.S. City to Make Protection the Default for All New Bike Lanes (PeopleForBikes)
10 Cities Chosen to Help Model Vision Zero Policy in the U.S.(Streetsblog)