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Greetings!
Hello everyone. I hope you were able to join us for the Making the Cold Cool webinar on winter SRTS activities. It was very informative and fun. If you were not able to join us I will be providing a link to the archived webinar as soon as it is available. With the mild winter that many of us are experiencing here in Montana, I hope that many of you are walking or biking to school with your kids or encouraging students and parents to walk or bike to school.
We received 41 applications for funding this year for a total funding request in excess of $4 million. An overwhelming need indeed. The SRTS implementation committee has reviewed the applications and is in the process of making funding decisions. We look forward to announcing the decisions in April.
Please send me details of events you are planning for the rest of winter or spring so that I can get them on the calendar and the FaceBook page. As always, please send me photos! Thank you all for the work you do in helping make it safe and convenient for our kids to make healthy choices for their trips to and from school. |
Local Feature: Missoula Walk and Bike Week
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For twenty years, Missoula has hosted a successful week celebrating healthy transportation. Last year, more than 110 businesses, groups, and organizations sponsored 100+ events, in which over 15,000 people participated. This year, the 21st annual Bike Bus Walk Week is from April 28 through May 5. There will be bike rides and historic neighborhood walking tours. Dozens of businesses will provide incentives to bike or walk or bus, including discounts and cafes offering free treats. More than 100 businesses will sponsor a Commuter Challenge to encourage employees to reduce how often they drive alone to work. The University will have its huge Walk n Roll days with a grand prize festival on Friday. Seven elementary schools and one middle school will have increased walking and biking to school with "walking school buses," breakfasts, and more. The week begins with the annual Festival of Cycles in McCormick Park, and the Mountain Line bus will be free all week. The schedule of last year's events is at www.bikewalkbusmissoula.org. The new one will be available in mid-April. For more information, contact Phil Smith, City of Missoula Bicycle and Pedestrian Office, 552-6352 (or at psmith@ci.missoula.mt.us).
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| Webinar Opportunity - Bike Brigades | |
Presenters:
Lauren Marchetti, Director, National Center for Safe Routes to School
Kiel Johnson, Founder of Bike Train PDX
Gina Overshiner, Bike Program Manager, PedNet Coalition, Columbia, Missouri
When most people think of Safe Routes to School, walking is the first thing that comes to mind. However, cycling is another healthy, fun, and efficient way for children to travel to and from school and is a growing part of Safe Routes to School Programs across the country. Developing ways to encourage people to bike to school is a crucial component of expanding the reach of these Programs. By including bicycling in our Safe Routes to School toolkits we are able to potentially reach those living further away from their school.
In this sixty-minute webinar, we will discuss two successful Bike Train/Bike Brigade programs and provide insight into how you can replicate their success within your own SRTS programs. Lauren Marchetti, Director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School, will begin the presentation with a brief introduction and discussion of National Bike to School Day. Next, Kiel Johnson, Founder of Bike Train PDX, will share invaluable tips on how to get a bike train running from the ground up. Kiel helped organize a successful bike train from Beach School in Portland, Oregon. Using that as a model, Kiel has spread bike trains to schools throughout the City. And finally, Gina Overshiner, Bike Program Manager for PedNet Coalition in Columbia Missouri, will discuss how she built a Middle School Bike Brigade which rides every day, in conjunction with a school Bike Club and Bicycle Safety Education classes. Gina will be joined by one of the seventh-grade girls, who bikes to school daily.
This webinar is part of the Safe Routes to School Coaching Action Network Webinar Series, developed by America Walks and the National Center for Safe Routes to School.
For more information please contact Michelle Gulley at mgulley@americawalks.org
REGISTER NOW
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May 9 - Bike to School Day
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Gear Up for the First-ever National Bike to School Day Wednesday, May 9th Celebration Part of 2012 National Bike Month
(CHAPEL HILL, N.C.) January 19, 2012 - Prepare to switch gears this spring. The National Center for Safe Routes to School announced today that it will be coordinating the first-ever National Bike to School Day on Wednesday, May 9, 2012.
Bike to School Day builds on the popularity and success of International Walk to School Day, which is celebrated across the country - and the world - each October, and encourages a bike-focused celebration in the month of May. The National Center, which serves as the information clearinghouse for the federal Safe Routes to School program, is planning the inaugural event in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists, the organization that leads the celebration of National Bike Month.
"Communities and schools have been holding spring walk and bicycle to school days for years," said Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School. "This inaugural celebration not only provides an opportunity for schools across the country to join together to celebrate National Bike to School Day but also to build off of the energy of National Bike Month."
"Celebrating Bike to School Day will increase the excitement surrounding 2012 National Bike Month," said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists. "Bike Month - including Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day - has grown year after year and we're pleased to add a school- and kid-focused event to the celebration this year."
Save the date and stay tuned! A newly redesigned version of www.walktoschool.org will be unveiled in early April with more information about Bike to School Day and new event planning resources and tools, including a new GIS-powered walking and bicycling route mapping tool. A "Win a Bike Rack" contest is also being planned to help build excitement and encourage registration of both events and resources for this inaugural event. Bookmark www.walktoschool.org and check back often to learn more.
National Bike to School Day is based on the Walk to School Day model. Walk to School Day was founded in 1997 as a way to bring community leaders and children together to build awareness for communities to be more walkable. The one-day event has now grown to a month-long celebration. In 2011, students and parents from more than 4,000 U.S. schools joined millions of Walk to School Day and Month participants worldwide. The reasons for walking have grown just as quickly as the event itself. For more information, visit www.walktoschool.org.
Bike to School Day, a part of the National Bike Month, will be held on Wednesday, May 9, the week before Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day.
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| Billings SRTS featured on Yellowstone Public Radio | Montana To Parents, Kids: We Know It's Winter - But You Can Still Walk & Bike To School
(Billings, MT - YPR) - A Montana school launched a walk/bike to school initiative - even though it's January. Nicole Chakos is the acting president of the Highland Elementary Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA). She says she was inspired to go ahead with the the winter launch after watching three boys ride their bikes to school one day in December. "It was a beautiful day," Chakos says. "But a beautiful day in Montana is, I think it was 28 (degrees F) in the morning, but the roads were clear. And it really hit me and I thought, 'You know, the kids, they can do this.'" Click here to read the rest of the article For tips on safely biking in the snow and cold visit this site. |
New York City Launches Creative Street Sign Campaign
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Look! It's a street sign
with a haiku underneath.
They are new, Tuesday.
The city says they
are an eye-catching way to
encourage safety.
You will find 12 signs that are designed by John Morse, artist and poet. At crash-prone crosswalks,
200 will be installed.
(Some are in Spanish.) "A lot of our signs
are largely ubiquitous,"
said J. Sadik-Khan. "We look for new ways
to get through to the public,"
she said on Tuesday. Look for them on poles
from Queens to Staten Island.
Twelve sites in total. Want one? You can buy
a sign for personal use.
Sixty-five bucks each. To read the full New York Times Article click here. |
| SRTS Programs That Reduce Speeding and Distracted Driving | CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (February 16, 2012) - To highlight the visible results gained by communities and to provide examples of how successful SRTS programs have tracked progress, the National Center for Safe Routes to School has developed a three-part series of Getting Results resources. "Getting Results: SRTS Programs That Reduce Speeding and Distracted Driving," the second installment of the three-part series, was released today. Click here to see more.
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| Reminder | Don't forget to check out the National SRTS Newsletter and the archived webinars from the National SRTS website. Links to both can be found in our Quick Links Section. There are generally 1-2 new webinars a month and a new newsletter comes out every other month.
Recent Webinar Topics:
Pump Down the Volume: SRTS and Traffic Reduction
Engaging Youth in Your SRTS Program
Keys to a Successful SRTS Program: Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers
Location, Location, Location: New Guidance for Locating Schools in a Healthy, Sustainable Way
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Sincerely,
Taylor Lonsdale
Montana Safe Routes to School
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Important Dates
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May 9 - National Bike to School Day
May 14-18 - Bozeman Bike Week
May 16 - Bozeman Bike to School Day |
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