"It is just not safe to let my child walk or ride their bike to school." So said respondents from the initial survey that the PTA of Linwood Elementary in Milwaukie, Oregon, sent out last spring. They didn’t know that 'Safe Routes to School' – with capital letters – existed. But they knew something was not right, and they wanted to fix it.
NPLAN has surveyed existing law, conducted extensive legal research, and consulted with legal and policy experts to create these model laws (local ordinances and state statutes) and local and state/regional resolutions (which may be easier to pass, but are not binding) for Complete Streets.
Just in time for International Walk to School Day, a new study has been published in the Journal of the American Planning Association that confirms what those of us in the field have long known: Safe Routes to School programs are effective at increasing rates of walking and bicycling to and from school.
This guide looks at how local government incentives can help improve community health. It explains a variety of different types of incentives that promote access to healthy food and physical activity space, and outlines the steps involved in developing and carrying out these policies and programs.
As the new Congress convenes, pressure is on legislators to keep transportation dollars flowing. The current transportation law, MAP-21, expires in just four months in May 2015.
This report describes challenges and opportunities for implementing joint use agreements.
Can rural roads be good places to walk and bicycle? Why yes, they certainly can! My daughters got their first bicycles when they were five or six. They loved the bikes – but they couldn’t ride them. Because the streets in our small city were a little too busy for crazily uncoordinated families with bicycles and small children, we would drag ourselves, the girls, and the bikes over to the park every couple weeks. We would run around awkwardly holding the bicycle seats and trying to prevent the girls from crashing to the ground. While this did succeed in providing the whole family with
To assist advocates and local government attorneys in assessing liability risks, the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN) commissioned a 50-state survey of the laws governing liability for recreational use of school facilities during non-school hours.
Dedication. Passion. Commitment. These are all words that describe our Safe Routes to School champions across the nation, as evidenced not only by the great turnout for Bike to School Day but also by the increases we continue to see in bicycling and walking to school.
This toolkit is a guide for schools and communities interested in establishing a shared use agreement, with checklists, model agreements, and suggested partners and funding opportunities.
While the clock ticks quickly towards the July 31 expiration of transportation policy and funding, the Senate has been moving quickly (well, quickly for a legislative body that prides itself on a deliberative approach) to reach resolution.
This website provides videos of success stories for joint use agreements in rural California.
Since the first U.S. event in 1997, Walk to School Day has become the cornerstone annual event for champions of Safe Routes to School, walking and bicycling. Each year, Walk to School Day celebrations break records for participation, with more than 4,780 events being held in 2014. And in many communities, Walk to School Day events are just one part of a school’s efforts to embrace active lifestyles.
Income Disparities in Street Features that Encourage Walking examines the prevalence of pedestrian-friendly features and amenities on neighborhood streets, including sidewalks, street lighting, traffic calming devices, and marked crosswalks, in communities throughout the U.S.
Catcalling, leering, whistling, persistently asking for a woman’s name as she walks down the street – these are all forms of street harassment. Street harassment happens every day. When people experience street harassment, they often shrug it off, unsure of how to respond and not wanting to make a big deal out of it. But street harassment is a form of harassment and can affect people’s comfort, stress, and behavior, whether they are conscious of it or not.
This report documents trends in obesity and related health conditions and program and policy strategies to improve nutrition and increase physical activity.
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), which is the final transportation agreement negotiated between the House and Senate. Once the Senate passes the agreement, expected by early next week, a new five-year transportation law will be in effect.
This document provides a list of resources and steps for conducting a health impact assessment
At a recent grantmaking conference, one of the speakers emphasized the role of evaluation by saying that if you can’t measure something, it doesn’t matter. Thanks to a new rule from the US Department of Transportation, all states will now be required to measure and be held accountable for bicycle and pedestrian safety.
This blog post was written by the Safe Routes Partnership's research reviewer, Christina Galardi.
“It’s just like riding a bike.”
This is an expression we often use to refer to a learned skill that comes naturally and is retained for a lifetime.
But how do you learn to ride a bike—and do so safely—in the first place?
