The Connecticut Safe Routes to School program is making progress in providing safe walking and bicycling improvements around schools and communities! The Safe Routes to School infrastructure program just recently completed its fourth funding cycle, awarding more than $3 million in funding. Six awarded projects will benefit nine schools in six communities around the state with improvements such as sidewalk installation, bike lanes, multiuse paths, school zone signs and pavement markings.

This month has been a tough one for Safe Routes to School supporters.

My name is Christy Smith and I am the newest advocacy organizer for the Safe Routes Partnership in the State of Tennessee.  Prior to coming to the Safe Routes Partnership I worked as a public health educator where I taught people of all ages and stages of life how to safely walk, ride and drive.  I’ve also worked for the nonprofit organizations The Boys & Girls Clubs and the Y, two agencies that share

How can we better promote walking and bicycling to school among girls? Studies show that the odds of walking and bicycling to school are 40 percent lower in girls than in boys (Giles-Corti et al, 2011;

Physical activity has been central in my life since I learned to run and ride a bike as a kid. Though my career military parents moved my family often, they always prioritized living near a neighborhood school so that my sisters and I could walk or bicycle.

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.