February 2013
Cal WALKS footPrints
News from around the Cal WALKS Network
Californians to Gov. Brown: More Walking, More Biking, & More Safe Routes to School!

In January, California WALKS and a coalition of 12 lead organizations asked Californians to stand up and show their support for walking, biking, and Safe Routes to School in the Governor's newly proposed Active Transportation Program. In less than two weeks, Californians showed their unwavering support for active transportation in California: THANK YOU to the 7,000+ Californians and organizations that signed our petition to Gov. Brown

 

Your overwhelming public support sends a loud and clear message to Governor Brown: Californians want the Active Transportation Program to be transformative, to make California the trendsetting national leader in walking, biking, and Safe Routes to School--not a business-as-usual program. The petition has been delivered to the Governor, and we will keep you updated as developments occur. Read the final petition here. Thank you again to all those individuals and organizations who signed on!

California WALKS Youth Leaders Headed to Active Living Research Conference
Cal WALKS Youth Leaders at APHA 2012 conference, San Francisco, CA
 At the end of the month, Cal WALKS Youth Leaders Diana Rodriguez (high school senior), MariaJose Diaz (high school sophomore), Christopher Chavez (high school sophomore), and Jason Rovira (college freshman) are headed to San Diego for the annual Active Living Research Conference. Youth Leaders will be co-facilitating a workshop with Cal WALKS staff on how to utilize community- and youth-driven VideoVoice projects to make the case for healthy, safe, and walkable communities. The Cal WALKS Youth Leaders have been traveling across California to expand the use of VideoVoice and to train other youth, community residents, and public health professionals in VideoVoice best practices. Read more about the Youth Leaders here 
Walking Loops with WalkLongBeach
Example walking loop for the Willmore City Neighborhood
Walking loops list distance, difficulty, and points of interest along the way.
In partnership with CityFabrick, WalkLongBeach has been engaging diverse communities in Long Beach to walk more and to advocate for improvements in the walking environment. Key to their strategy is the use of small walking loop postcards that map out short walks, rank the difficulty of the walk, and highlight points of interest along the walking loop. The walking loop cards have been a very effective promotional tool to get more residents physically active and walking regularly, while also connecting with others in the community. WalkLongBeach, CityFabrick, and other partners engage community residents to develop the walking loops--to-date, 10 walking loops have been identified, with an ultimate goal of 50 walking routes. The walking loop program will culminate in a downloadable 'how-to' toolkit that will outline step-by-step information and offer open source templates for other local walk groups to customize and sustain their own walking routes and programs.
Nominations Open for WalkSanDiego's Golden Footprint Awards
Photo Credit: Flickr User Irina Souiki
Nominations are officially open for WalkSanDiego's 2013 Golden Footprint Awards! If you know a friend, public official, or nonprofit organization that has gone above and beyond championing walkability in San Diego County, nominate him/her today! For more details or a nomination form, please visit WalkSanDiego's gala page or e-mail Dave Schumacher. The awards will be presented at WalkSanDiego's Annual Awards Gala on Thursday, April 4, 2013.
Join the Walkolution! America Walks is Hiring!

America Walks is serving as the backbone organization for the EveryBody Walk! Collaborative, providing management and support for targeted partnership initiatives. America Walks is hiring a full-time National Coalition Director who will play a central role in leading, strategizing, and guiding the work of the collaborative.  Applications are due February 6, 2013. Read the full job description here.

New Resources
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center has recently launched a new white paper series on the latest pedestrian- and bicycle-related research, resources, and tools. The first two white papers in the series are available here: Using Health Impact Assessments to Evaluate Bicycle & Pedestrian PlansAn Overview of Automated Enforcement Systems & Their Potential for Improving Pedestrian & Bicyclist Safety. Planned future topics include high visibility crosswalks, road diets and cycle tracks.
 
If you missed out on any of the great webinars from the Context Sensitive Solutions Clearinghouse last year, no worries! The fine folks at CSS.org have archived their webinars for you to watch at your leisure. Last year, topics included Streets as Places, Americans with Disabilities Act and Context Sensitive Solutions, and Leveraging Regional Collaboration to Build Healthy Communities. For the 2013 webinars, we're particularly looking forward to the session on emerging trends for context sensitive solutions &  pedestrian- and bicycle-oriented traffic engineering.
 
The Project for Public Spaces has released a new set of case studies and tools to help communities "rightsize" their streets. Rightsizing is about reallocating street space to better serve its full range of users, while remaining sensitive to the context and vision of the local community. Rightsizing a street explicitly recognizes that every trip begins and ends on foot--meaning that rightsized streets are safer, more comfortable, and more enjoyable for all of us when we walk. Check out the Rightsizing Streets Guide here
 
In this blog post, America Walks' Yolanda Savage-Narva writes about how local economies benefit from improved walking environments. Citing a New York City Department of Transportation Study, Savage-Narva reports on a Brooklyn neighborhood's astonishing 179% increase in local small business retail sales thanks to a new pedestrian plaza (reclaimed from an underused parking lot to boot!). Read the full blog post here
Upcoming Events
Thursday, February 7, 2013 | 11:00-12:00 PM | Hosted by Safe Routes to School National Partnership
Discover how state and local Safe Routes to School programs are finding the new required 20 percent funding match for their federal MAP-21 Transportation Alternatives projects and programs. Register Here

[Webinar] Keys to a UNIFIED Vibrant Street

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 | 9:00-10:00 AM | Hosted by Vibrant Streets

The eighth step of the Vibrant Streets process is to make sure your street is UNIFIED. Find out how during our webinar focusing on Item #8. Register Here


[Webinar] SRTS Non-Infrastructure Awardee Networking Conference Call & Webinar
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 | 1:30-2:30 PM | Hosted by the SRTS Techincal Assistance Resource Center (TARC)

The SRTS TARC hosts a monthly networking call to provide SRTS non-infrastructure (NI) awardees with a way to learn from other programs, share news and resources, and network with/ask questions of other SRTS NI programs throughout the state. Additionally, TARC staff will provide the latest funding and programmatic information. Though originally created to support Caltrans' SRTS NI awardees, the networking calls are open to anyone interested in learning more about SRTS in California. Monthly networking calls will be held the first Wednesday of the month, 1:30-2:30 PM.

 

Thursday, February 14, 2013 | 12:00-1:30 PM | Hosted by America Walks
Representatives from GirlTrek, Oregon Walks, Count on Yourself Coaching and The YMCA of the USA will share successful strategies for mobilizing communities to implement successful walking initiatives, from a national, state, and local perspective. Register Here

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 | 11:00-12:00 PM | Hosted by the Alliance for Biking & Walking
Join this call to hear from foundation experts suggestions for how to maximize the funding resources in your own community and develop relationships with local foundations. This call is a supplement to the third guide in the Alliance Guide to Fundraising series. Register Here   

[Webinar] Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 | 12:00-1:00 PM | Hosted by Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals (APBP) | $50 for APBP members; $85 for non-members
Are there certain countermeasures that have proven to be more effective than others in reducing crashes along a corridor or in an area of a community? This webinar will provide examples of successful treatments in improving the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. Register Here

 

[Conference] 10th Annual Active Living Research Conference

February 26-28, 2013 | San Diego, CA | Hosted by Active Living Research

The theme of the 2013 conference, Achieving Change Across Sectors: Integrating Research, Policy and Practice, recognizes the importance of engaging people from multiple disciplines and occupations to increase physical activity for everyone and reverse the obesity epidemic.For the first time, the conference agenda will be organized into two tracks - research and practice.  The goal of developing two tracks is to encourage a broader audience to attend the conference and provide more opportunities for exchange on how to use evidence to increase physical activity in many different settings. Register Here

 

 [Conference] 4th Biennial Safe Routes to School National Conference

August 13-15, 2013 | Sacramento, CA | Hosted by the Local Government Commission | Co-presented by the National Center for Safe Routes to School & the Safe Routes to School National Partnership

The Safe Routes to School National Conference heads to Sacramento this year--recognizing California's key role and leadership in the Safe Routes to School movement. In fact, California was the first state to enact SRTS legislation all the way back in 1999. Come learn about the latest in SRTS strategies and join the parents, volunteers, public health practitioners, and active living afficianados that make the Safe Routes to School movement so great! Call for Session Proposals open until February 15, 2013. Registration to open in early May 2013.

Have an item you want to share with the Network? Send an e-mail to Tony Dang, State Network Coordinator.
Support Cal WALKS
Stay Connected

California WALKS | 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 790 | Oakland, CA 94612 | 
Tel. 510.292.4435 | Fax 510.292.4436 | [email protected]