Engaging Congress in SRTS

How to Plan Site Visits and Member Meetings

Congress created the federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program in 2005, and is responsible for the continued funding and existence of the program. It’s important that local SRTS advocates let their Members of Congress know the positive impact that federal SRTS dollars are having on children and families in their communities. With your help, we can convince Congress to strengthen and increase funding for SRTS.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has created a toolkit, called A Toolkit for Building Congressional Champions, to help you plan an event or meeting with your Member of Congress. The toolkit contains step-by-step instructions, templates, tools and resources to conceptualize the event or meeting, invite your Member of Congress, and carry out a successful event or meeting. The toolkit is available in two formats:

  • Download the entire toolkit in .pdf
  • Browse through the toolkit and download just the pieces you need in word or .pdf formats

To help you get inspired and thinking about what your Congressional site visit could look like, we wanted to share two actual examples that took place in April 2009:

  • The PedNet Coalition of Columbia, Missouri invited Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO) to walk to school as part of their Walking School Bus program. The Senator had a chance to interact with local kids and get some exercise. Afterwards, he addressed the children, encouraging them to develop healthy habits through the Walking School Bus. Local media covered the event, resulting in positive articles in local papers, including one headlined “Senator Bond Gets on the Health Bus.”
  • The Champaign-Urbana SRTS Project hosted an event with Mark Fenton that included a walking audit and Safe Routes to School planning workshop. Rep. Tim Johnson (R-IL) walked with the group during the audit, shared his own stories of walking and biking around the Urbana area as a child, and saw the new school zone signs that were installed with SRTS grant funds. Rep. Johnson told the group of his support for increasing funding for SRTS in the next transportation bill.

These two events are examples of how you can connect Members of Congress with the impact of SRTS—through events you may already be planning for your families, communities and schools. All it takes is a little planning—which is what the Toolkit for Building Congressional Champions is for. Please also don’t hesitate to contact Margo Pedroso, Policy Manager for the Partnership, if you need any help during the process or would like to share your site visit story.