Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #164: November 2019
Safe Routes Partnership E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes Partnership. We are also on Facebook and Twitter. Join us!
- See You in Tampa Next Week! Day Passes are Still Available
- Apply for the 2020 Safe Routes to Parks: Activating Communities Program
- Now Hiring: Healthy Parks and Places Manager
- ICYMI: Want to Learn More About MPOs? Check Out Our Webinars
- Safe Routes to Healthy Food for Older Adults in DC’s Bellevue Neighborhood
- Federal Policy Updates Plus Good News & Bad News from the States
- Lamont Jefferson Named as 2019 Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award
- California Governor Vetoes Much-Needed Complete Streets Bill
1. See You in Tampa Next Week! Day Passes are Still Available
We’re just a few days away from the Safe Routes to School National Conference and can’t wait to see those of you attending! Be sure to download the Attendify app and join "2019 SRTS" so you don't miss out on updates and the chance to connect with other attendees.
Making last minute plans? Day Pass tickets are now available in limited quantities. Connect with Safe Routes professionals and earn professional development credits on your time with a shorter time commitment, for a fraction of the cost!
2. Apply for the 2020 Safe Routes to Parks: Activating Communities Program
The Safe Routes Partnership invites communities and organizations working to improve safe, equitable access to local parks to apply for the 2020 Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program. The program provides tailored technical assistance for seven communities to develop Safe Routes to Parks action plans and awards $12,500 to each community to begin implementation of those plans.
Applications are now being accepted with a deadline of December 16, 2019.
Grantee communities will work closely with staff at the Safe Routes Partnership from February through September 2020 to develop action plans aimed at improving safe, equitable access to local parks in their communities. Read about how previous grantees advanced safe, walkable, bikeable park access to local parks in communities in Houston, TX, Youngstown, OH, and Planada, CA.
3. Now Hiring: Healthy Parks and Places Manager
The Safe Routes Partnership seeks a motivated and detail-oriented professional with strong experience leading environmental and systems-level change related to active transportation and healthy communities through coaching and technical assistance to join the Safe Routes Partnership as our Healthy Parks and Places Manager. We welcome applicants with a passion for advancing safe walking and bicycling to school and in daily life to increase physical activity levels and create livable, equitable, sustainable communities.
The Healthy Parks and Places Manager will serve as the lead for the Safe Routes Partnership’s Safe Routes to Parks work and will provide significant, tailored technical assistance to organizations across the country to develop and begin to implement Safe Routes to Parks action plans. The overarching goals of this position’s work are to: support communities to improve safe, equitable park access through the development of strategic action plans and early implementation of these plans and to grow the field of Safe Routes to Parks.
4. ICYMI: Want to Learn More About MPOs? Check Out Our Webinars
A new set of companion reports and webinars provide an introduction to MPOs for those who want to better understand regional planning and how to influence it to benefit health, active transportation, and equity. If you missed our webinars last month, you can still listen to the recordings.
Regional Planning and Health: How MPOs Are Using Regional Transportation Planning to Advance Health
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are some of the most influential agencies that most people have never heard of. This webinar offers an overview of MPO long-range regional transportation planning and how MPOs can include health in these processes.
Transportation Planning Innovations and Health: How MPOs Are Combining Core Skills and Creativity to Advance Health
In the second of two webinars on MPOs and health, we dig into a range of creative and inspiring approaches that MPOs are taking to benefit healthy and thriving neighborhoods.
5. Safe Routes to Healthy Food for Older Adults in DC’s Bellevue Neighborhood
The Safe Routes Partnership was awarded a 2019 AARP Community Challenge grant to implement a safety project in Washington D.C.’s Bellevue neighborhood. Bellevue is located in Ward 8, where a single grocery store serves over 80,000 residents, many of whom are older adults. With a new grocery store coming to Bellevue early next year, residents wanted to celebrate the occasion and advocate for safer, easier shopping trips. Our AARP grant project, Safe Routes to Healthy Food for Older Adults, presented an opportunity to support residents in their advocacy efforts while turning art into community action. This past month, we hosted two community art events where community members and partners gathered to create colorful crosswalks, decorate reusable grocery bags, and build support for permanent safety changes East of the River.
6. Federal Policy Updates Plus Good News & Bad News from the States
It’s been three months since the Senate passed its transportation bill, and attention now turns to the House of Representatives. Read our latest federal policy blog post to learn about how the House transportation bill will seek to move us to a carbon-free transportation system, the new Vision Zero bill, and a reminder on our TAP and safety asks.
In addition, with the end of the federal fiscal year, we check in on how the states used their Transportation Alternatives Program dollars. A lot of states locked in a lot of money for Safe Routes, biking and walking projects, while a number of other states squandered their funding. Take a look at our quarterly State of the States report to see how your state is doing.
7. Lamont Jefferson Named as 2019 Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award
The Safe Routes Partnership is proud to announce Lamont Jefferson of Philadelphia as the winner of the 2019 Hubsmith Safe Routes Champion Award. This national award recognizes outstanding leadership and vision, impact on advancing Safe Routes to School, and skills in building coalitions and political will to ensure safe, healthy, and equitable outcomes for children and community members. The award is given in honor of Deb Hubsmith, founding director of the Safe Routes Partnership, who dedicated her life and career to building the Safe Routes to School movement.
Mr. Jefferson serves as Community Connector with the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM) in North Philadelphia. He also serves in volunteer roles as President of the Rainbow de Colores Playground Advisory Council and Block Captain. As a professional and a dedicated community advocate, Mr. Jefferson has worked tirelessly for the past decade toward the goal of improving safety and quality of life for residents of the North Philadelphia community.
8. California Governor Vetoes Much-Needed Complete Streets Bill
We are incredibly sorry to report that Governor Newsom vetoed SB 127, the Complete Streets bill. We worked hard with partners at California Bicycle Coalition, California Walks, AARP and the American Heart Association to push this bill through the Assembly and the Senate by wide margins in spite of hugely inflated cost estimates and pushback from CalTrans. If passed, the legislation would have required CalTrans to implement Complete Streets improvements on portions of the state highway system that run through communities. The joint press release from the lead partners on the legislation captures are disappointment at the Governor’s short-sighted decision. In his veto message, Governor Newsom said he’s committed to holding CalTrans accountable for delivering safe walking, biking and transit alternatives; we will be working with our partners to try and hold him to that promise.