Safe Routes to School E-News

Issue #39: March 2009

Safe Routes to School E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, a growing national network of more than 400 non-profit organizations, government agencies, and professional groups that are working to set goals, share best practices, secure funding, and provide detailed policy input to implementing agencies for advancing the Safe Routes to School national movement.

Please forward Safe Routes to School E-News to others who may be interested!

To receive future issues of E-News, email info@saferoutespartnership.org.

In this issue:

1. The Partnership Releases Two Exciting New SRTS Reports
Review the 2009 Policy Report and 2008 State Network Report Sponsored by RWJF

2. More Than 400 Groups Are Now Partner Affiliates
Join the Partnership today! It’s free.

3. Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Federal Update
Stimulus Implementation, Transportation bill, Climate bill, and more

4. Advocate for SRTS at the National Bike Summit
Learn more about SRTS, be inspired, and advocate for expansion of federal program

5. Local School Project Updates on the Partnership’s Website
Check out the exciting progress in each of our ten local schools

6. California State Senator Nell Soto Was A SRTS Pioneer
Passing away at 82, she leaves behind a Safe Routes to School legacy

7. Musician Blane Lyon Provides Safe Routes to School Theme Songs
Check out “I want to walk” and “Ride my bike”!

8. Get Outside for TV Turnoff Week, April 20-26!
Find more information through Kaiser Permanente at www.kp.org

9. Iowa’s SRTS Program Funds Third Round of Projects
Next deadline for submitting applications for funding is October 1, 2009

10. Safe Routes to School News Throughout the Country
Local and state SRTS program news links

1. The Partnership Releases Two Exciting New SRTS Reports
Review the 2009 Policy Report and 2008 State Network Report Sponsored by RWJF

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has just released two exciting and informative reports that were prepared for and sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). We will be distributing copies of the 2009 Policy Report to both Congressional houses with a “Dear Colleague” letter in the near future.

The Safe Routes to School 2009 Policy Report – Moving to the Future: Building on Early Achievements provides background information on Safe Routes to School and details challenges and opportunities in program implementation. It also discuses a number of “big-picture” policies and practices that affect—positively or negatively—the ability of children to walk and bicycle to school or that can help institutionalize SRTS programs in a larger context. Some of these policies include school siting, complete streets, school bus route cuts, and more.

The Safe Routes to School State Network Project: 2008 Annual Progress Report - Building Momentum and Policy Change provides an update on major State Network Project accomplishments in 2008, lessons learned, state summaries, and the Local School Project. The State Network Project is funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente and Bikes Belong Coalition and includes Washington DC and these nine states: CA, GA, IL, KY, LA, NY, OK, TX, and VA.

2. More Than 400 Groups Are Now Partner Affiliates
Join the Partnership today! It’s free.

Since the Partnership’s inception in August 2005, it has grown to include more than 400 partner affiliates, including a broad array of organizations, government agencies, and professional groups that are working to set goals, share best practices, secure funding, and provide educational materials to agencies that implement Safe Routes to School programs.

The Partnership is striving to ensure that the $612 million in Safe Routes to School federal dollars are spent, and on good projects. We are also leveraging additional resources for Safe Routes to School, developing State Networks to foster policy changes, educating policy makers, and leading the charge to create a culture that encourages safe bicycling and walking to and from schools throughout the nation. We greatly appreciate our partners’ help in changing the habits of an entire generation.

Organizations joining the Partnership commit agree to our Memorandum of Understanding and support SRTS efforts through existing activities. Join our growing list of supporting organizations and become a partner affiliate today! It’s free.

3. Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Federal Update
Stimulus Implementation, Transportation bill, Climate bill, and more

Over the past several months, Congress and the Administration have been focused primarily on the economic stimulus bill, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Fortunately, the final bill did include funding for bicycle, pedestrian, and Safe Routes to School projects. To learn more, visit our website to access details on the various funding streams and resources to help you take action locally to secure stimulus funds for your Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects and to encourage your jurisdictions to build complete streets.

Now that the stimulus bill has passed, Congress is turning their attention to other matters, including:

  • Passage of the FY2009 spending bills. Because the annual appropriations bills have been delayed by several months, many state Departments of Transportation have put a hold on awarding 2009 transportation contracts (including Safe Routes to School grants) until the federal government provides them with the full funding allocation for 2009. Now that the appropriations bills are nearing completion, it should enable states to move forward quickly in committing their remaining funds.
  • Transportation authorization. Congressman Oberstar of Minnesota, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has indicated that he hopes to have a surface transportation bill through his Committee by the end of May. That would leave the summer for both the House and Senate to move forward on the legislation before it expires at the end of September 2009. The new transportation authorization bill provides an important opportunity to strengthen and expand the federal Safe Routes to School program. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has issued reauthorization recommendations, and regularly meets with Congressional offices to build support for this agenda. We also produced a toolkit to help you schedule site visits with Congressman members in your home community.
  • Climate bill. Congressman Waxman, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Senator Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, have announced their intention to move forward this year with legislation to address climate change. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is working with partners in the environment and transportation communities to increase opportunities for transportation alternatives, like bicycling, walking, and public transit, as part of any climate bill to reduce the impact of transportation on our planet.

Stay tuned for more updates as these legislative priorities start to move forward. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership thanks the SRAM Cycling Fund and Bikes Belong Coalition for sponsoring our legislative work.

4. Advocate for SRTS at the National Bike Summit
Learn more about SRTS, be inspired, and advocate for expansion of federal program

The National Bike Summit kicks off on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 in Washington, DC. Our partner, the League of American Bicyclists, shares that more than 500 people are registered, and they are on track for record attendance. For those of you attending the Summit, please add the events below to your schedule to learn more about SRTS, be inspired, and advocate for the expansion of the federal program:

Tuesday, March 10: Chairman Oberstar will be speaking at the opening dinner and presenting the Oberstar award to an outstanding SRTS program in Boulder, Colorado.

Wednesday, March 11: SRTS will be discussed at two breakout sessions during the day:

  • 11:15 a.m., Hemisphere B: “Getting our Fair and Equitable Share in the Next Transportation Bill.” Margo Pedroso, Policy Manager for the Partnership will talk about the need to increase funding for SRTS to adequately address child safety.
  • 2:30 p.m., Hemisphere A: “Safe Routes to School Times Three.” Deb Hubsmith and Robert Ping of the Partnership, Lauren Marchetti of the National Center for Safe Routes to School, and Yon Lambert with the City of Alexandria, VA will discuss the current federal SRTS program and opportunities to expand the program in the next transportation bill.

Thursday, March 12: Expanding and strengthening SRTS is part of the America Bikes legislative agenda, and bike advocates will be fanning out across Capitol Hill to ask their Members of Congress to support the agenda. All Hill packets will include a state-specific fact sheet on the federal Safe Routes to School program. Please take the opportunity to let your Members of Congress know how valuable the federal SRTS program is to your community.

After the summit: Please let us know how your Hill meetings went and whether your Member of Congress expressed support for SRTS. Send any updates to Margo Pedroso, Policy Manager, at margo@saferoutespartnership.org. Thanks in advance for speaking up on behalf of SRTS!

5. Local School Project Updates on the Partnership’s Website
Check out the exciting progress in each of our ten local schools

The Local School Project began in February 2008 and will run through December 2009, in conjunction with the State Network Project. The State Networks provide technical assistance to each of these schools, but rely on volunteer management at six of the schools. Four sites, located in California, Georgia, Virginia, and Washington, DC have been assigned a Technical Service Provider (TSP), who directly manages the school’s volunteers, program activities, data collection, and communication.

Click here for an update from each of the ten local schools. They have been busy with program activities and collecting evaluation data to hopefully show mode shift from the start to the end of the project.

Funders for the Local School Project include Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

6. California State Senator Nell Soto Was A SRTS Pioneer
Passing away at 82, she leaves behind a Safe Routes to School legacy

Nell Soto, who worked in citrus groves as a Depression-era child and rose to become a California state senator and among the first Latino officials to fight for environmental protection, died Thursday, February 26 at the age of 82 of complications from a stroke suffered in December 2008. She retired from public office last year after months of failing health and decades of public service.

In 1999, then Assembly member Nell Soto authored AB 1475, which directed the State of California to set aside one-third of federal safety funds for Safe Routes to School infrastructure. This legislation, which she sponsored on four occasions (as an Assembly member and a Senator) to continue reauthorizing the program, helped launch a national movement, and has resulted in an average of $24.25 million in state Safe Routes to School funding on an annual basis (above and beyond the federal funding).

Chris Morfas with the Sacramento Air Quality Management District shared that “Beginning in 1999, by authoring several pieces of legislation creating and then sustaining the California program, Latina trailblazer Nell Soto made mainstream a once-obscure concept called Safe Routes to School, establishing a template for the federal program in SAFETEA-LU.”

Deb Hubsmith, Director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and a California resident added, “By authoring the original legislation for Safe Routes to School in California, ten years ago, Senator Soto initiated a program that is now improving the lives of students, families, and communities all throughout the United States. Senator Soto will be remembered for her vision, passion, and dedication to children’s and community health. She leaves behind an important legacy for the Safe Routes to School national movement; we will miss her greatly.”

Even right now, the State of California has a call for applications for state Safe Routes to School funding, which is a direct result of Senator Soto’s great work: http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/california

7. Musician Blane Lyon Provides Safe Routes to School Theme Songs
Check out “I want to walk” and “Ride my bike”!

San Francisco Bay Area musician Blane Lyon recently produced two upbeat, hip, and modern Safe Routes to School theme songs titled “I want to walk” and “ride my bike”. He originally created the songs for use in Santa Rosa, California, a location where the Safe Routes to School National Partnership is working as part of our Local School Project. Blane has now generously made these songs available for use in schools worldwide through the Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s website.

A poet since the age of 13, Blane Lyon has written more than 150 songs and performed more than 500 live concerts. He has always used his art to highlight social and environmental causes and has recently written a series of environmental "theme songs", including the two songs for Safe Routes to School promotion. "I love to write songs that are funky and that spread good thoughts and actions. There is so much good work to be done. It helps to be together and inspired and I think dance music is one of the most contagious and inspiring things on earth," says Lyon.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership thanks Blane Lyon for his generous contribution. We urge schools and organizations using Blane’s songs to provide him with credit, and to link to his website, www.blanelyon.com. His album, “All People”, is available on iTunes too. As many say, “it takes music to make a movement!”

8. Get Outside for TV Turnoff Week, April 20-26!
Find more information through Kaiser Permanente at www.kp.org

Kids need lots of physical activity every day. When they spend to many hours watching entertainment screens, whether it’s a TV show, a DVD, a video game or surfing the net, they are at greater risk for being overweight, for doing less well in school, for having sleep and attention problems, and higher levels of aggression. The American Academy of Pediatrics says school age children should watch no more than 1-2 hours per day (and none at all under the age of 2). However, the average American child spends more hours watching screens than they spend in school.

Kaiser Permanente helps families reduce their screen time and increase active play, social interaction, creativity, reading, and more through: reducing the number of waiting room TVs, sponsoring community events during Turnoff Week (April 20-26, 2009), offering Family Nature Walks with the Sierra Club, presenting school-based performances to educate about healthy eating and active living, and promoting walking and bicycling to school. You’ll find free downloadable screen time information and activities for parents, teachers and kids on Kaiser Permanente’s website (you do not need to be a member). Visit www.kp.org, choose whatever region is nearest to you, and follow the hypertext links to the toolkit.

9. Iowa’s SRTS Program Funds Third Round of Projects
Next deadline for submitting applications for funding is October 1, 2009

Iowa’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program recently made funding awards to 17 applicants totaling more than $1.71 million. Funding was awarded for nine non-infrastructure projects and eight infrastructure projects. Kathy Ridnour, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) SRTS Coordinator, reported that 50 applications were submitted requesting a total of nearly $7.81 million.

Requests for funding were received from a wide range of applicants, including school districts, cities, counties, councils of government, and a few non-profit organizations. Applications were reviewed and ranked by the program’s seven-member SRTS Advisory Committee. Recommendations were presented to the Iowa Transportation Commission, with the final selections announced in January 2009. The next deadline for submitting applications for funding is October 1, 2009.

To date, 59 projects have been funded; 30 for non-infrastructure activities and 29 for infrastructure improvements. Most of the infrastructure projects involve some type of sidewalk, intersection, or crossing improvement. Some of the non-infrastructure projects have been to complete SRTS studies or plans, develop and implement education and encouragement programs, or provide traffic engineering assistance to local communities.

As a recipient of SRTS non-infrastructure funding, the Iowa Bicycle Coalition (IBC) has been a key partner in developing Iowa’s SRTS Encouragement and Education Program. On behalf of the Iowa DOT, the IBC conducts SRTS workshops at no cost to communities. To date, the IBC has conducted 17 SRTS workshops upon request across the state. The IBC has also developed two SRTS documents for statewide use. They are entitled, Iowa Kids on the Move (bicycle and pedestrian safety curriculum) and Iowa’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Encouragement Guide. Both documents are available at no cost at: www.iowasaferoutes.org

For more information on Iowa’s SRTS program, please contact the SRTS Coordinator, Kathy Ridnour at kathy.ridnour@dot.iowa.gov or (515) 239-1713.

10. Safe Routes to School News throughout the Country
Local and state SRTS program news links

Safe Routes to School news around the country keeps growing! Updated regularly, see our new Safe Routes to School in the News media center for the latest in local, state, and national SRTS news.

Help Grow the National Partnership!

Joining the National Partnership is free. Please encourage other organizations, schools, businesses, and government agencies to join the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, a network of more than 500 organizations and agencies.

Funding for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership has been generously provided by the Bikes Belong Coalition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, SRAM Cycling Fund, individuals and partner affiliates.

For more information, contact:

Brooke Driesse, Communications Manager
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
brooke@saferoutespartnership.org
www.saferoutespartnership.org