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News from around the Cal WALKS Network
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As the State Transportation Agency leads discussions to shape the new Active Transportation Program (ATP), the California WALKS Network has put forth our principles for ensuring that walking is a key component of the ATP--without which the ATP would be "active transportation" in name only. Read more about our principles here
Last month, a group of stakeholders, including California WALKS, California Bicycle Coalition, Rails-Trails-Conservancy, PolicyLink, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, and others, has met with the Transportation Agency twice to discuss detailed recommendations for how to avoid losing the benefits of existing walking, biking, Safe Routes to School, and trail projects under the ATP's proposed consolidation, as well as to maintain the strong equity gains made under the state Safe Routes to School program. Meetings have been constructive and productive, and the Administration and Legislative staff will be incorporating stakeholder feedback into the enacting legislation for the ATP that must pass the Senate and Assembly by August 31.
Though time is short, the Legislature returns to the Capitol from recess next week on August 12--just in time for the Safe Routes to School National Conference in Sacramento! Join walking, biking, trails, and Safe Routes to School practitioners, researchers, and advocates at the conference, and consider joining the Safe Routes to School Advocacy Day on August 15 to amplify the collective voice supporting Safe Routes to School and provisions for disadvantaged communities in the ATP.
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 Last week, Cal WALKS dedicated the entire week to building the walk advocacy capacity of the Greenfield Walking Group and the California Alliance for Retired Americans in Bakersfield, CA. Cal WALKS kicked the week off with a Community Pedestrian Safety Training, and together, we hosted four separate It's Up to All of Us--a statewide campaign that targets and promotes traffic safety messages to both drivers and pedestrians--community education marches around Stiern Park, the Greenfield Family Resource Center, Greenfield Middle School, and Raffaello Pallo Elementary School where posted speed limits are 45 MPH on streets leading to these heavily used community areas and schools.
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| Cal WALKS Network Affiliates to Represent California at National Open Streets Training |
Open streets events close streets off to cars to allow people to reclaim the street and reimagine it as a vibrant public space--allowing people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, roll, stroll, skate, skip, hop (or whatever else you can imagine!) in the street. Though California has a few long-standing open streets events, such as San Francisco's Sunday Streets and CicLAvia in Los Angeles, we are slowly beginning to see more and more open streets events pop up across the state, including CicloSDias in San Diego, Santa Barbara Open Streets/�Calles Vivas!, and Santa Cruz Open Streets.
To help accelerate and kickstart more local open streets efforts across the state, Cal WALKS is proud to sponsor--in collaboration with the Alliance for Biking & Walking--Jess Strange of Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) and Alek Bartrosouf of Walk Bike Glendale to attend the first ever National Open Streets Training in Minneapolis, MN this weekend. WOBO has hosted two Oaklav�a events to-date since 2010 and Walk Bike Glendale is looking to start an event in the near future. Jess and Alek will be learning from local and national experts on planning, implementing, managing, and fundraising for successful open streets events, and upon return, will be sharing what they've learned with the Cal WALKS Network and the broader active transportation community to help jumpstart open streets events across California!
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The Summit will feature interactive capacity-building sessions, great networking opportunities, and a " Share Fair" that will highlight innovative practices from key opinion leaders in walking and walkability. The agenda is jam-packed with all things walking and will feature outspoken supporters of walkability, including George Halvorson, Chairman, Kaiser Permanente; Jonah Berger, PhD, New York Times best-selling author; the 18th U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA and Acting U.S. Surgeon General Boris Lushniak, MD, MPH.
Scholarships for travel, lodging and registration are available and reviewed on a rolling basis, so apply today! Early bird registration ends August 12-- Register now to save $75! |
Responding to the continued increase in pedestrian fatalities nationwide, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a new website (Everybody Is a Pedestrian) as a one-stop shop for statistics, research, curriculum, and other resources related to making walking and street crossing safer. NHTSA also has released its latest Traffic Safety Facts for Pedestrians documenting a 3% increase in pedestrian fatalities nationwide. In California, pedestrians continue to account for a disproportionate amount of traffic fatalities at 22.4% (compared to last year's 22.1%). NHTSA estimates that, on average, a pedestrian is killed every 2 hours and injured every 8 minutes in traffic crashes.
Additionally, NHTSA is making 6 grants available totaling $2 million for the department's 22 Focus Cities to fund education and enforcement efforts as part of a city's Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. In California, the Focus Cities are: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Stockton.
In recently published findings from Kaiser Permanente's 2013 Childhood Obesity Prevention Survey, a whopping 69% of all adults and 70% of parents surveyed in California strongly favored "building more sidewalks, paths, trails, bike lanes..to enable more kids to walk, bike to school." Moreover, a majority in all instances find that Safe Routes to School type projects, including walking buses, bike trains, pedestrian and bicycle safety education, and conducting walking and biking audits of schools, are very helpful in encouraging K-12 students to walk or bike to school.
This white paper from the National Center for Safe Routes to School summarizes three different approaches large Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are taking for administration of the new federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)--the new consolidated funding stream for walking, biking, and Safe Routes to School projects. Based on in-depth interviews with MPO managers and state SRTS coordinators, the paper also discusses challenges MPOs have commonly faced as they work to include Safe Routes to School projects.
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[Mutual Aid Call] Safe Routes for All: Thinking Beyond the School
Wednesday, August 14, 2013 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Hosted by the Alliance for Biking & Walking
[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
Come learn about the latest in Safe Routes to School strategies and join the parents, volunteers, public health practitioners, and active living afficianados that make the Safe Routes to School movement so great! Also consider staying for the planned Advocacy Day on August 15, so that you can communicate the value and impact of Safe Routes to School programs to California decisionmakers. Register Now
[Webinar] Facebook 101
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Hosted by the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists
Facebook is far and away the most popular social network. And while sharing photos and updating your friends on your lunch choice can be fun, Facebook is an immense resource to build an advocacy network. This webinar will breakdown the basics of using Facebook as an advocacy tool. Register Here
[Webinar] Getting Better Data for Better Decisions: Improving Performance Measures and Outcomes
Wednesday, August 21, 2013 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Hosted by the Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals (APBP) | $50 for APBP Members; $85 for non-members
Collecting data is of critical importance, but what we do with data is often the key to making a difference. This webinar will explore the role of data and how to improve performance measures, benchmark progress toward mode share goals, increase safety and provide support for equitable policy for transportation spending. From developing crash exposure rates to improving travel demand models, how are improved ped/bike data sets making a difference in the transportation profession? Register Here
[Webinar] Open Q&A Session on the Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
Thursday, September 5, 2013 | 11:30 AM-1:00 PM | Hosted by Accessibility Online
The session will be an "open" question and answer session whereby the presenters will accept questions on a diversity of topics including the 2010 ADA Accessibility Standard, the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standard, Section 508, Medical Diagnostic Equipment, Public Rights of Way, or other Board rulemakings or activities. Register Here
[Conference] Dollars and Sense: Economic, Health and Social Benefits of Walking and Bicycling; 2013 APBP Professional Development Seminar
September 9-12, 2013 | Boulder, CO | Hosted by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
Join APBP in Boulder, Colorado for the 2013 Professional Development Seminar (PDS). This three-day conference is packed with state-of-the-practice information for planners, engineers, landscape architects, public health professionals, advocates, elected officials, and others working to advance active transportation and sustainable, livable communities. Register Here.
[Mutual Aid Call] Boosting Advocacy with Health Impact Assessments
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Hosted by the Alliance for Biking & Walking
[Conference] Every Body Walk! 2013 Walking Summit
October 1-3, 2013 | Washington, D.C. | Hosted by the Every Body Walk! Collaborative
Register Now!
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California WALKS | 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 790 | Oakland, CA 94612 |
Tel. 510.292.4435 | Fax 510.292.4436 | info@californiawalks.org
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