Fired Up! That’s the best way I can describe the energy on the first day of the 3rd Safe Routes to School National Conference, which is being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 600 people from nearly every state in the US came here seeking to learn, share and build connections so that they can go home with new tools to improve their communities, making them safer for kids to walk and bike – improving health, communities and the environment.
With Congress in recess this week, we have a short breather. So I’m taking this opportunity to bring you up to speed on where things stand on the transportation bill. The past three weeks have been action-packed—and there’s more to come next week and beyond.
Hi, my name is Kathy Cooke, and I'm network coordinator for the Safe Routes Partnership! Even though I battle daily to get my two sons to put on a jacket or long pants during Portland's rainier months, I've found ways to make sure other "systems" are in place that help them get safely to and from school. We have tools at the ready to fix their bike brakes or pump air in their tires.
Please note that the Request to Host for the 2013 Safe Routes to School National Conference was not released on April 16 as stated below. Stay tuned as we will send it out as soon as possible!
As I learn more about the communities in the Greater Washington, DC region, I am learning about the unique approaches and challenges to increasing walking and bicycling in each community. For example, some schools do not allow kids to walk or bicycle to school.
From Bicycling Magazine to NPR's Talk of the Nation, the topic of Safe Routes to School is in the headings and creating a national conversation!
For the past two weeks veteran and budding bicyclists around the country have been peddling the joys of pedaling by participating in the National Bike Challenge , National Bike
A Matter of the “Heart”
Hi! Welcome to my blog.
After several weeks of reports that Congressional conferees on the transportation bill were making progress, last week saw a flurry of news stories in the Capitol Hill trade press that negotiations are on the rocks. House Republicans from the Transpor
Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 1 p.m. ET
Join us to learn about the fifth edition of Safe Routes Partnership’s state report cards and report, Making Strides: 2024 State Report Cards on Support for Walking, Bicycling, and Active Kids and Communities.
This report marks nearly a decade of work reviewing and scoring best practices in policy, funding and practices that support walking, biking, and active communities. We are excited to share the milestones and case studies that mark real progress during that time. During this webinar we will walk you through the scoring and indicators, the changes we have seen since our last state report cards in 2022, and how you can use this information to make change.
SPEAKERS:
I love living in Southern California, especially the Los Angeles neighborhood I call
Parks play a role in supporting public health, from mitigating the impacts of climate change to reducing depression and anxiety. A 2022 systematic review by the Community Preventative Services Task Force – part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and supported by the Centers for Disease Control – emphasized the importance of Safe Routes to Parks for maximizing the health benefits of parks, greenways, and trails. The findings, published in what is called the Community Guide, showed that rates of physical activity improved significantly only when parks were combined with at least one of four key strategies to facilitate their access and usage: community engagement, public awareness, structured programming, and access enhancements. So, why does this matter? It reinforces that Safe Routes to Parks is a research-backed strategy for improving health outcomes. For more information on this research and related strategies, check out: Actionable Public Health Strategies to Boost Community Well-Being with Safe Routes to Parks.
The first Ohio network meeting was held on Tuesday, June 19 at the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Central Office, to kick off the Safe Routes Partnership’s efforts in Ohio.
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.
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
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 imp
