Safe Routes Matters, September/October 2008

In this Issue:

2008 Walk to School events break records
Let them hear you walk
Safe Routes to School benefits from WTS coverage
Oberstar Awards application deadline extended
2009 National Conference update
Safe Routes Snapshots: Auburn, Washington
Featured Resource: New Safe Routes to School podcast
News Brief
SRTS in the News

2008 Walk to School events break records

Thank you for making Walk to School Day a big success! All 50 states participated — with 3,000 registered events in the U.S., and many more schools that didn't register, but still celebrated. The official date was October 8, but many schools celebrated throughout the month or on a different day. Walk to School events have increased every year throughout the U.S. thanks to the commitment of families and community leaders to encouraging safe walking and bicycling by schoolchildren.

Schools across the U.S. held a variety of activities on Walk to School Day from bike rodeos to breakfast celebrations after walking and bicycling. Registered event organizers could also download a variety of resources from the Walk to School Web site such as banners and stickers to be used at their events.

Walk to School Day began in the U.S. with one school in Chicago in 1997 and has spread all over the U.S. and worldwide, with 44 countries participating in International Walk to School Month in October.

To view the names of registered schools that participated in Walk to School Day in the U.S., please visit www.walktoschool.org. For a complete list of countries, please visit www.iwalktoschool.org/whoswalking. For photos of Walk to School activities from around the world, please visit www.iwalktoschool.org/photos/index.htm.

If you participated in Walk to School and would like to share photos, please send them (along with a brief caption) to walk@iwalktoschool.org.

For a sample of Walk to School coverage, please scroll down to Safe Routes to School benefits from WTS coverage.

Thank you to those of you who have shared photos and stories with us via e-mail. Here are observations from an event at a small school in Virginia:

Blacksburg New School participated in today's Walk to School Day with great success! A family living in Wyatt Farm neighborhood invited families to "park and walk/bike" from their home: 44 of our 96 students did just that! And they were joined by another 22 parents and siblings! Another 6 kids walked or biked from nearby neighborhoods…As a teacher, I noticed the kids were more school-ready than ever. Twelve of my 13 kindergartners had walked at least 1/4 mile before arriving at school. Terrific!

– T. J. Stone, PhD, Blacksburg New School, Blacksburg, VA

And here are impressions from a larger school in north-central Texas:

We ended up with over 200 people walking for our school, IC Evans Elementary school in Burkburnett. The high school participated as well and had 10% of their school join in. The Texas Department of Highway Transportation supplied reflective zipper pulls for all of the kids to wear. The kids loved having the blue Texas hang off their jackets and backpacks. Students were joined by family members and I am certain that next year will be a lot bigger. I wanted us to join this event as a community to support healthy lifestyles and to help clean up the environment. My philosophy in class is — BE A MOVER! The best motivation is the family unit and that's what we were trying to bring together. I feel that it was a huge success!

– Stacy Brown, Burkburnett Independent School District, TX

Let them hear you walk

New this year: We are trying to capture successes and enthusiasm for walking and bicycling to school on audio as well as images. Walk to School has jumpstarted so many good things at schools all over the country that we want to bottle up all the energy and share it with others. Please leave us a voice message at (919) 809-7777 and tell us why walking to school makes a difference in your life. What is it about walking and/or bicycling to school that changes your outlook?

We want to hear from Walk to School event leaders, parents and students. Please voice your personal motivations and benefits gained from Walk to School Day or from your daily walking routine and ask others to call and do the same. We plan to include some of the comments in a slide show of Walk to School photos shared with us. Let the world see you — and hear you — walking to school.

Please call at any time and leave a message, including your name, city and state at (919) 809-7777. If you'd like to brag about your successful event or share impressions, we'd love to listen. Encourage others, including organizers, parents and students to share their thoughts.

Safe Routes to School benefits from WTS coverage

Walk to School Day made headlines from coast to coast. Here are just a few news stories that illustrate the importance of Walk to School Day as a catalyst for Safe Routes to School activities.

Los Angeles Times

Forbes Magazine

Walk to School Wednesday Highlights Traffic Rules — Austin, Texas

Walk to School Day Promotes Physical Activity — Jackson Citizen Patriot, Michigan

Cheaper by the Foot... Ann Arbor, Michigan

International Walk to School Day in Vienna, Virginia (morning show video)

Walk to School Day Gets Neighbors Together — Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Oberstar Award application deadline extended

Need extra time? Ask for an extension by October 22nd

The 2008 Oberstar Award will recognize the achievements of communities in establishing successful Safe Routes to School programs with federal funds. Because we have heard from several event organizers who have been in the midst of celebrating Walk to School activities during the month of October, the National Center for Safe Routes to School is allowing those who need an extension to apply for one by October 22, the original deadline for applications.

"We work to encourage Walk to School activities and we want as many Safe Routes to School leaders as possible to have an opportunity to apply," said Pam Barth, MRP, Project Manager at the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

"We hope that by offering the option of an extension we can balance the time constraints of local applicants with the need to provide a thorough evaluation of applications. Our internal deadline is tight, and we really would like those folks who can get their applications to us by October 22 to please do so," added Barth.

Although the extension was prompted by Walk to School activities, anyone can request an extension. The new deadline would be November 3, by 5 p.m. EST. To request the extension, the program/school emails barth@hsrc.unc.edu with the program/school name and contact information, and a sentence saying that they are requesting an extension for the Oberstar Award application. Anyone who requests an extension will be granted one.

Oberstar Award applications can be downloaded at www.saferoutesinfo.org/oberstar. For any additional questions regarding the Oberstar Award, please contact Barth at (919) 962-8717; barth@hsrc.unc.edu.

The Oberstar Award will recognize the impact of the Federal Safe Routes to School program at the local level, specifically, outstanding achievement by a school or community in establishing a Safe Routes to School program that has benefited from federal funding. The Oberstar Award is given annually by the National Center for Safe Routes to School to an exemplary SRTS program in the United States. It is named for Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) to honor his dedication to American schoolchildren as the pioneer for the National Safe Routes to School Program.

2009 National Conference update

The National Center for Safe Routes to School and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership will present the Second Safe Routes to School National Conference August 19–21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. The host organization, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has selected the Portland Hilton as the site of the conference. A pre-conference meeting on health is planned for Tuesday, August 18 and the Safe Routes to School Partnership's annual meeting is planned for Wednesday. More details will be available in the next few weeks.

The BTA is leading committee meetings to plan the agenda for the conference and would appreciate your input. Please share the top three topics you would like addressed at the conference by November 7, 2008 by emailing Scott Yelton at scottyelton@bta4bikes.org. Please consider areas that include hot topics, best practices, or issues that you are facing or have heard about in implementing a SRTS program in your community or state.

Safe Routes Snapshots: Collaboration Creates Success in Auburn, Washington

Safe Routes Snapshots provides a brief profile of a Safe Routes to School state or local program that highlights a particular success or issue the program faced. To submit your program for Safe Routes Snapshots, please email news@saferoutesinfo.org.

Background

In 1995, the Auburn School District linked concerns about the high cost of transportation and increased childhood obesity to create cooperation that has led to 20 percent of its district's students walking to school. With a 2006 Safe Routes to School infrastructure grant for $121,770 from Washington Department of Transportation, the City of Auburn partnered with the Auburn School District to build sidewalks and bike lanes. Also, the District received an $185,000 SRTS infrastructure grant for Olympic Middle School to remedy safety concerns along a heavily traveled road. With these infrastructure grants, the school district has worked to increase physical activity among students at the schools. At Pioneer Elementary School, bus use has decreased from six buses to one and 85% of children walk or bike to school. The Transportation Director attributes $220,000 savings in transportation costs due to SRTS program.

The Auburn School District Transportation Department's "Partnership Approach to Safe Routes to School" program was declared a Top 50 Program of the 2008 Innovations in America Government Awards competition, administered by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovations at Harvard Kennedy School.

Details

"The key to our program is the partnership," said Jim Denton, Director of Transportation for the Auburn School District in Auburn, WA, for 12 years. The District has 14,500 students in 22 schools. There are three towns, Auburn, Algona and Pacific, and four county schools. Many people in the community indicated they would walk, but they wanted safe routes.

"We are just blessed to have a community that's so supportive and is committed to making the program work," Denton said.

In 1995, a citizens' ad hoc committee made recommendations to the school board to curb the rising costs of transportation. Early discussions began to link the goals of addressing transportation planning and childhood inactivity, Denton said. Participants included the school district and community residents, as well as professionals in cities and municipalities who all wanted to increase the rate of walking and bicycling to school.

These planning participants spent several years working together to develop a district-wide plan of safe pedestrian routes. Together, committee members sought ways to develop safe routes, but they had no money for sidewalks. With a 2006 SRTS infrastructure grant for $121,770 from Washington DOT, the City of Auburn partnered with the Auburn School District to build sidewalks and bike lanes; they added curbing to separate motorists and built four-way stops at crosswalks. They constructed walking paths and provided signage to clearly mark the pedestrian-friendly routes. The school district hired a bicycle safety officer who monitors children on routes in the morning and after school. Parent volunteers walk with children as young as kindergarteners, who are walking up to a mile, Denton said, and "that takes a little bit of effort."

In 2006, the District received an $185,000 SRTS infrastructure grant from Washington DOT for Olympic Middle School to remedy safety concerns along a heavily traveled road where children had been walking. By 2009, the area should have its non-motorized shared use path and crosswalks complete.

Each of the grants included an educational component, Denton said. For example, elementary schools conduct walking field trips to teach pedestrian safety, such as how to cross safely and where to cross. Schools hold bicycle rodeos, and children who complete the training receive a free helmet from Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

One of the school board's goals was to increase physical activity, and it sought ways for transportation to contribute to that goal as well. Many of the elementary schools have built into their physical education curriculum a walking program where students receive bonus point incentives for walking to school. At Pioneer Elementary School, students who walk to school receive fresh fruit when they arrive there.

Every school in the district has a Safe Walking Committee, comprised of the principal, teachers and parents in the school. Each year those committees evaluate neighborhoods to identify which are safe and to make recommendations for improvements to the District.

"Every year we write another grant," Denton said.

Results

As a result of SRTS efforts, 20 percent of the children in the Auburn School District are walking or bicycling to school. At Pioneer Elementary School, bus use has decreased from six buses to one, and 85 percent of the children walk or bicycle to school. A new school in an upper class neighborhood was designed to provide the opportunity for 95 percent of the children to walk or bicycle to school.

The developer built sidewalks and worked with the City of Auburn and the school district to form a cooperative agreement to build a "walking school." The City of Auburn requires installation of sidewalks by new developers and charges impact fees. Only one school in the 22-school system has been identified as unsafe for students to walk or bicycle to school.

Another benefit, credited in part to the program, has been better test scores at Pioneer Elementary, which is a low income school. Pioneer Elementary students recently have achieved the highest scores in the district, and Principal Debra Gary attributes part of that gain to walking and bicycling to school, Denton said.

"It's a real success story," he said. "We're saving $220,000 in transportation costs every year because of these kids. Not only is it working, this program is standing the test of time. Each school is finding more and more ways to participate."

To read more about Auburn and other case studies, visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies.

Featured Resource: Safe Routes to School podcast

Host Katy Jones will introduce you to the voices of Safe Routes to School via a new podcast series available now on www.saferoutesinfo.org/podcast. In each podcast, Jones gives a brief introduction to Safe Routes to School as a national program and interviews community leaders who are doing interesting things to promote Safe Routes to School and to get more schoolchildren involved. The podcasts follow a radio show format. This new resource is scripted, edited and produced entirely in-house in a cost-effective manner. To suggest new topics, please contact Katy Jones at the National Center for Safe Routes to School at jones@hsrc.unc.edu.

A different topic will be featured each month. The first two shows are:

Park and Walk Programs: Learn more about setting up a park and walk program at your school and hear from Tracy Shaw from Rosewood Elementary on how they motivate kids in Columbia, South Carolina to walk to school.

Co-Promoting with the Media: Learn how to partner with media organizations to promote Safe Routes to School. Listen to how the Garfield Health Department helped launch a newspaper series that reached 30,000 New Jersey students each day.

To access the podcasts, please visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/podcast.

News Brief

Register for the next Safe Routes Coaching Action Network Webinar

America Walks and the National Center for Safe Routes to School present Safe Routes Coaching Action Network Webinars.

If you missed Urban SRTS and New Jersey's success stories, on October 21, please go to www.saferoutesinfo.org/training/can_webinars.cfm to download the webinar.

The next topic will be:
SRTS Liability Issues, November 18, 2008 at 2 p.m. EDT

To register for these free webinars, please visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/training/can_webinars.cfm.

The Safe Routes Coaching Action Network Webinars are designed to educate individuals and organizations on topics that will assist with successful outreach efforts. The Network will also offer Webinar participants the option to receive a coaching session from America Walks for assistance with their local outreach efforts. By offering follow-up coaching and education, the Network aims to increase the priority of and resources dedicated towards improving Safe Routes to School efforts.

America Walks is a national coalition of local advocacy groups dedicated to promoting walkable communities. Its members are autonomous grassroots organizations from across the country, each working to improve conditions for walking in their area. The mission of America Walks is to foster the development of community-based pedestrian advocacy groups, to educate the public about the benefits of walking, and, when appropriate, to act as a collective voice for walking advocates.

New faces at the National Center for Safe Routes to School

Welcome Pam Barth, MRP, Project Manager at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. Pam holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Master's in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

After 10 years as a relational database developer, Pam turned her passion for all things pedestrian into a career. Most recently she spent two years at Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., a Fortune 100 private engineering consulting company, where she did NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) planning for transportation projects.

At NCSRTS, Pam is responsible for coordinating programs and activities that provide technical assistance to states and communities on how to promote safe walking or bicycling to school as part of the national Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program. She oversees technical assistance to all 51 state SRTS programs as well as subcontractor work related to the development of technical materials. She also provides oversight and technical support for program activities such as Walk to School Day promotions and mini grants to assist program start ups. Pam's database knowledge enables her to provide backup support for NCSRTS' data tracking program.

Having married into a bicycling dynasty, Pam enjoys spending time biking, hiking, reading, and hanging out with her husband Chris and their son Daniel.

Welcome Raquel Rivas, Marketing Manager at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. She joined the staff in late Summer 2008 and is responsible for marketing and communications strategies, including media relations, for the NCSRTS.

Previously, Raquel worked on Latin American communications for Mayo Clinic and its three medical practices in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. She also has worked as a public relations consultant for local and state agencies in Florida. Raquel also has experience as a newspaper reporter in Florida and her native Puerto Rico. She holds a B.A. in journalism and an M.A. in English.

Raquel has fond memories of walking to school with her mother and younger siblings in Puerto Rico, and enjoys doing the same with her daughter. She is available to conduct media interviews and write articles in either English or Spanish, and also is conversant in Portuguese.

SRTS in the News

The following is a brief compilation of Safe Routes to School-related news stories from across the country. Web links to the following news stories are time sensitive, so some stories may not be accessible after the initial publication date or may require registration.

[Georgia] DOT Safe Routes program starts project in Macon: 10/17/08
Off the School Bus; Onto the Sidewalks: Washington Post; 10/16/08
Schools get state money to set up safe routes for students: ABC12, Flint, Michigan; 10/14/08
Students take safe route to school: Grand Haven Tribune, Michigan; 10/16/08
SV making roads safer for students: ABC 34, Binghamton, NY
State trail grants are a boon to area: Sawyer County Record, Hayward, WI
Walk to School Initiatives Get Support: The Oklahoman; 10/16/08
Funds for Safe Routes Give Walk-to-School Plan Legs: Greenville, SC; 10/11/08
Ir Caminando a la Escuela, Una Opcion: La Opinion, Los Angeles, CA; 10/08/08

For more news stories relating to Safe Routes to School, please visit the NCSRTS News Room at www.saferoutesinfo.org/news_room/

Safe Routes Matters is a free, online publication of the National Center for Safe Routes to School. No permission is needed to reprint from articles, but attribution is requested. To submit article ideas to Safe Routes Matters, please email news@saferoutesinfo.org.