Visit our Website
for News Highlights !!!
Subscribe to newsletter
|
Safe Routes to Schools Participation Increasing
| |
Bridging the Gap just released a new research brief that examines U.S. elementary school administrators' reports of participation in Safe Routes to School initiatives and estimated rates of students' walking or biking to school. Researchers found that participation in Safe Routes to School programs grew steadily over the past seven years in elementary schools nationwide and that students' active travel was significantly higher in schools participating in Safe Route to School initiatives.
View the research brief here.
|
| |
Each month, the students from the Kent Eco Action Club promote walking and rolling to school with theme based events. This month, they are celebrating Pi Day (3.14 - March 14) by handing out small bites of pie to anyone who walks or rolls from half a mile or more away. The club students enjoy thinking of clever ways to encourage eco-friendly transportation and their efforts are well received by the droves of students who eagerly arrive at the tables to receive their treats. This mini-social event serves as a way to foster friendships and community spirit. For many, Go Green Days can make the transition into class a little easier - what better way to start the day than by connecting with friends before school.
|
March Blog - The Walking School Bus
| |
Making the walk to school a social routine
"Walking to school with other kids in our neighborhood every Wednesday is a blast!" said 7-year-old Cayman Stein, a student at Coleman Elementary School in San Rafael. "I walk with my friends and we often laugh along the way. It's even fun to walk in the rain."
Last month Coleman Elementary School in San Rafael started encouraging more families to walk together to school as a way to decrease traffic congestion, reduce global warming and teach children the lifelong lesson of using their feet to get places. Coleman Elementary started three Walking School Buses organized by Lynn Stein, the Safe Routes to Schools parent volunteer leader. A Walking School Bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults, and can be as informal as two families taking turns to meet at a designated location to walk to school. Adult presence along the route reduces the worry that some parents have about letting their child walk to school.
Read More
|
Family Biking Workshops Starts April 5
| |

Come to one of our monthly Family Biking workshops, a fun and educational event for the whole family. This is for families with kids learning to ride in the road. Families will learn to safely navigate the streets - with fun activities, including an optional group ride. Taught by a League of American Cyclists certified instructor, topics include bike skills, rules of the road, effective communication, and proper equipment. The first class is April 5 from 10-noon in Mill Valley. Registration fee $10 per family. Register Today
More Information
|
The California Active Transportation Program Call for Projects
| |
The next opportunity to fund a Safe Routes to School or active transportation project is fast approaching! The new Active Transportation Program makes $180 million in state funds available across the state for walking and biking infrastructure, planning or education programs. The first call for applications is coming up quickly. Caltrans will begin accepting applications on March 21 and the deadline for applications for the majority of the $360 million is MAY 21, 2014.
The Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership has valuable resources to help your community prepare good ATP project applications.
|
Families for Safe Streets
| |
New York and San Francisco are fighting for safety on their streets.
A coalition of safe streets advocates, community organizations, and city supervisors have launched a campaign for San Francisco to join leading cities in adopting a Vision Zero Zero goal - an end to traffic deaths on city streets within ten years.
In New York they have launched Families for Safe StreetsThis one-day mini film takes a look at NYC's newly formed transportation advocacy group, Families for Safe Streets, and the press conference they held for their first public gathering on the steps of NYC's City Hall steps.
|