Cal Walks footPRINTS

August 2014

News from Around the Network

Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 1 Awards Announced!

California is now poised to get nearly $221 million out the door for walking, biking, trails, and Safe Routes to School projects!

California Transportation Commission(CTC) staff have just released their recommendations for 145 ATP Cycle 1 projects to be awarded through the Statewide and Small Urban/Rural programs--pending approval at the August 20 CTC meeting.

We are thrilled to report that the preliminary award list exceeds the ATP targets for BOTH Safe Routes to School (SRTS) and disadvatanged communities projects:

$119 million total for 94 SRTS projects and
86% of both programs (110 projects) benefitting or partially benefitting disadvantaged communities.

Lastly, when including project matching funds, the ATP represents a huge $426 million investment in walking, biking, trails and Safe Routes to School in California--with more on the way as the regions have yet to award their share of ATP funds!

Cal Walks has been hard at work with our partners to establish the ATP, inform program guidelines, and participate on the multidisciplinary review committee, and we will continue to monitor and evaluate Cycle 1 results to strengthen the program in the future. Stay tuned for more details as we delve deeper into the staff recommended award list.

Read the full CTC staff recommendation list here.

Welcome Jaime Fearer to the Cal Walks Team!

We are thrilled to welcome Jaime Fearer, AICP to the Team as our new Planning & Policy Manager! Jaime will be leading the multigenerational STEPS Coalition initiative in San José, building partnerships to advance healthy, sustainable, and equitable transportation solutions for people of all ages and abilities.

Most recently, Jaime worked with City of Greenbelt, Maryland, as a community planner where she focused on a number of projects, including working with Greenbelt's Advisory Planning Board to complete the city's Pedestrian and Bicyclist Master Plan, implementing Safe Routes to School infrastructure improvements at a local elementary school, and securing a grant to complete a citywide bike share feasibility study. Before attending the University of Maryland-College Park for a Master of Community Planning, Jaime worked for over a decade in the bookselling and publishing industries.

Pedestrians Dying at Disproportionate Rates in America's Poorer Neighborhoods

A new analysis by Governing found that low-income census tracts recorded pedestrian fatality rates almost 2 times that of more affluent neighborhoods. Read the full results methodology here.

Huge Wins for Active Transportation
in Kern County!

Cal Walks, our Youth Leaders, and the Greenfield Walking Group have worked over the past 2 years to ensure that walking, biking, and transit were key components of the Kern County Sustainable Communities Strategy, and the final plan sure showed the fruits of our labor:

Planned investments in walking and biking have increased a whopping 828% and now comprise 6.5% of the RTP budget (v. 0.7% of the 2011 RTP budget);
Adoption of Project Selection Criteria that includes points for Complete Streets; and
Commitment to fund a Pedestrian Facilities Plan for the County and the incorporated cities as a priority near-term action.

Check out NRDC's recap of the Kern SCS/RTP highlights here.

New Resources

Traffic Safety Facts 2012: Pedestrians and Overall Data
The latest national data shows that pedestrians account for over 1 in 5 traffic fatalities in California (21.4%). When combined with cyclist fatalities, active transportation users account for 25.7% of all traffic fatalities in the state.

2000 to 2007-2009 to 2010-2012: Changes in Transit, Walk and Bike Commute Shares
The FHWA released a set of spreadsheets to help examine trends in journey to work data by looking at the differences between Census 2000 results, and the 2007-2009 and the 2010-2012 American Community Survey (ACS) results.

Calif. Dept. of Public Health Launches WalkSmart Campaign
WalkSmartCA is part of the It's Up to All of Us public education campaign and is designed to educate both pedestrians and drivers on what steps they can take to keep our streets safe. New messages have been focus group tested on the impacts of speeding, older adult pedestrian safety, and distracted walking. The campaign materials are free and publicly available for use by any interested party.

Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) Results
The NTPP provided over $25 million in federal funds each to four pilot communities (Marin County, California; Columbia, Missouri; Minneapolis area, Minnesota; and Sheboygan County, Wisconsin) to construct pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects and programs.

According to estimates, over the course of the program, the communities, among other achievements:

Experienced a 22.8 percent increase in walking trips and 48.3 percent increase in bicycling trips.
Avoided 85.1 million vehicle miles traveled, saving an estimated 3.6 million gallons of gasoline and avoiding approximately 34,629 tons of CO2 emissions.
Observed a 20 percent decline in the number of pedestrian fatalities and a 28.6 percent decline in the number of bicycle fatalities despite increases in walking and bicycling.