As of March 31, 2012, 37 elementary and middle schools in Delaware have ongoing school-level Safe Routes to School programs. This represents about 20 percent of Safe Routes to School-eligible Delaware public schools, including charter schools. Private schools serving students in grades K-8 are also eligible. Six schools in Delaware were awarded consultant planning assistance in January 2012 using federal Safe Routes to School program funding. Planning of infrastructure projects is currently underway at these schools, three of which are in New Castle County, two in Kent County and one in Sussex County. The most commonly requested infrastructure improvements requested in Delaware are bike racks, school zone signage, sidewalks, ADA curb ramps and crosswalk striping.  Read More

Over the last several months, You’re the Cure advocates have sent nearly 30,000 messages to Congress in support of the Safe Routes to School program, which helps communities build safe, accessible sidewalks and crosswalks that make it possible for more kids to be physically active by walking or biking to school.

Thanks to your show of support, funding for Safe Routes to School was preserved… for now. In September, Congress passed an extension that continues to fund Safe Routes to School and other transportation programs at current funding levels until March 31, 2012.

But our work is far from over. The extension gives Congress six months to keep working on passing a long-term transportation reauthorization bill- and it is clear that walking and biking program funding will continue to be at risk.

 So, stay tuned! We’ll keep you posted as the transportation bill moves and let you know about ways you can help protect Safe Routes to School.

International Walk to School Day is taking place on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. This year’s theme is “Hike it, Bike it, I like it!” More than 1,000 schools are currently registered. For more resources, such as promotional tools, event ideas and more, visit www.walktoschool.org.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is excited to announce a new partnership with Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play and The Big Help project.  On Worldwide Day of Play, September 24, Nickelodeon turns off all programming for three hours and encourages kids and their families to turn off their TV, get up and go play.

Throughout the rest of the year, Safe Routes to School will be a featured health and wellness activity of Nickelodeon’s Big Help Project.  Explore all that Nickelodeon offers to encourage kids to make a difference in their homes, schools and communities.

On August 30, 2011 the National Center for Safe Routes to School announced the selection of 25 recipients of $1,000 mini-grants for projects designed to encourage safe walking and bicycling to school. The mini-grant activities, many of which are driven by student leadership, will occur during the fall semester of the 2011-2012 school year.

One of the 25 schools receiving a grant was Willard Elementary in Philadelphia, PA.   The school will provide pedestrian safety education for the entire school using Safe Route Philly’s curriculum and will start a Walking School Bus with two routes to increase safety and physical activity while decreasing student tardiness. The program will rely on volunteers: parents will use the Pedestrian Bicycle Information Center’s Walkability Checklist to identify route improvements, and teachers will use Safe Route Philly’s Eye Spy Neighborhood Walk lesson plan to engage students in a community walkability audit. Students will create posters that raise awareness about pedestrian safety and the environmental and health benefits of walking. Students will also track active transportation participants in each class, and the results will be logged through Safe Route Philly’s online database.

For more information, visit the National Center for Safe Routes to School website at saferoutesinfo.org. 

In June, the National Prevention Council released the National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness. The National Prevention Strategy was authorized by the Affordable Care Act to help transform our health care system from a focus on sickness and disease to one that is focused on prevention and wellness.

We are pleased to report that the National Prevention Strategy specifically highlights Safe Routes to School on page 39. It also highlights the concepts of school siting, joint use and Complete Streets and their impact on physical activity levels.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is pleased to announce the release of a new publication entitled Safe Routes to School Local Policy Guide. (hi-resolution version, 34MB)

The Local Policy Guide was published to help local communities and schools create, enact and implement policies which will support active and healthy community environments that encourage safe walking and bicycling and physical activity by children through a Health in All Policies approach. The guide was made possible due to funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Public Health Association.

The Local Policy Guide highlights strategies to advance policy change and covers more than 20 policy change examples including: regional transportation plans, Complete Streets, fine based mechanisms, school bonds, crossing guards, health impact assessments, joint-use agreements, speed limits, and more. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Local Policy Guide was compiled through the help of more than a dozen leaders throughout the country who provided success stories and examples of local policy wins; we thank everyone who assisted for their help and contributions.

Read more here.

By encouraging and enabling children to use active transportation, communities can cut costs, offer healthy options and improve the area surrounding the school.

As part of Governor Strickland’s ongoing commitment to transportation safety, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is beginning a new application cycle for its widely-recognized Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.

Last year, ODOT awarded nearly $11 million to communities across the state for school crossing signals, bike/pedestrian facilities, educational materials and School Travel Plans.

More than a third of youths aged 9 to 15 live within a mile of school, but less than half of these students walk or bike even one day a week. This is a lost opportunity for students to get much-needed physical activity and to learn more about their neighbors and the community.

Funds will be awarded on a competitive basis to eligible applicants who have ODOT approved School Travel Plans, have developed their SRTS program and show a demonstrated need for funding to implement portions of the plan. The program serves students in grades k-8. Applicants may also apply for funds to develop their School Travel Plan.

There are three types of eligible projects:

• Infrastructure – Up to $500,000 per applicant per project;
• Non infrastructure – Up to $100,000 per applicant per funding round;
• School Travel Plan Development – Up to $1,000 per school with a maximum of 4 schools per applicant per funding cycle considered. ODOT will provide the engineering services needed to complete the plan development.

Eligible applicants include State, local and non-profit organizations. Eligible projects include infrastructure projects, such as bicycle/pedestrian facilities, within 2 miles of K-8 schools and non-infrastructure projects, such as training, public awareness and traffic enforcement.

To submit an application visit the ODOT website - http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/TransSysDev/ProgramMgt/Projects/SafeRoutes/Pages/default.aspx

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has issued "Implementing Safe Routes to School in Low-Income Schools and Communities: A Resource Guide for Volunteers and Professionals."

This new publication focuses on the challenges and circumstances unique to low-income communities and highlights a number of Safe Routes to School promising practices from around the country. Our goal is to provide parents, nonprofit leaders, school personnel and local government officials with creative and effective solutions to make it safer for more children to walk and bicycle to and from school in low-income communities.

The publication and additional information is available for download at: http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/lowincomeguide

In June, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership will release a new resource guide for SRTS volunteers and professionals, entitled "Implementing Safe Routes to School in Low-Income Schools and Communities." The forthcoming guide highlights promising practices and creative strategies that have been successfully employed in low-income communities throughout the country.

As part of the roll-out of the new resource guide, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership will be holding two webinars to help non-profit organizations and community residents come together and collaborate to develop culturally sensitive, inclusive and successful SRTS initiatives.

Webinar 1: Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST
Register at: http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=EE55DE8088

This webinar will focus on efforts at low-income schools designed to engage parents as volunteers and champions for SRTS, as well as strategies to reduce crime and violence near schools. Speakers include:

• Nora Cody, Safe Routes to School Director, TransForm, Alameda County, CA
• Nikki Trevino, Program Coordinator, Austin Healthy Adolescent Initiative, Austin, TX

Webinar 2: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST
Register at: http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=EE55DE8089

Low-income communities often have limited access to professional expertise, such as planners and engineers, who are critical to planning and obtaining funds for Safe Routes to School programs. In this webinar, learn about two communities in which the local government or a non-profit stepped forward to collaborate with community residents and parents to implement Safe Routes to School initiatives and build buy-in with city leaders. Speakers include:

• Bill Swiatek, Senior Planner, Wilmington Area Planning Council, Wilmington, DE
• Christy Filby, parent champion, Ridgeway Elementary School, East Moline, IL

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has released a new national report showing how Safe Routes to School programs can be harnessed to keep children safe from traffic dangers while walking and bicycling to school. Titled, Safe Routes to School: Putting Traffic Safety First - How Safe Routes to School Initiatives Protect Children Walking and Bicycling, the report explores the approaches five different communities used through Safe Routes to School to create safer environments for children walking and bicycling.
The five communities (Santa Rosa, CA; Miami-Dade County, FL; state of ME; Springfield, MO; and Portland, OR) each demonstrate how Safe Routes to School evaluation, education, encouragement, enforcement, and engineering can address traffic safety concerns. Many of these safety improvements are made at relatively low costs to communities and schools, yet have profound effects on keeping children safe while also improving physical health and the environment.

This report demonstrates there are many different approaches to improving safety for children walking and bicycling:

• In Santa Rosa, CA, after children received pedestrian safety education, there was a 63 percent increase in children using the crosswalks to cross the street rather than crossing at unmarked locations.
  
• In Miami-Dade County, FL, since the launch of the WalkSafe™ child pedestrian safety program in 2001, there has been a 43 percent decrease in the total number of children ages 0-14 hit by cars.
  
• An analysis comparing bicycle crash rates in Maine for the eight years before their Bicycle Safety Education Program was implemented (1992 to 1999) with the first eight years the program has been offered (2000-2007) reveals a 51 percent drop in bicycle crashes for children aged 10-14.
  
• Springfield, MO has already demonstrated the impact special roadway signage can have on vehicle speeds. Data from their pilot showed that 85 percent of motorists reduced their speeds by three to five miles per hour without any increase in enforcement after speed limits were reduced from 30 mph to 25 mph.
  
• Infrastructure improvements in Portland, OR have been successful in helping decrease crashes, as well as the severity of the crashes. Total crashes decreased by nearly 25 percent and there was a 32 percent decline in pedestrian injuries from crashes. 

Deb Hubsmith, Director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership noted, "The success stories in this report show the power and promise of Safe Routes to School to help communities all across the country to address safety risks and improve conditions for students walking and bicycling to school."

In 2007, an estimated 14,000 children ages 14 and under were injured as pedestrians, while more than 300 children were killed while walking. In 2008, an estimated 52,000 bicyclists were injured in motor vehicle crashes, and 21 percent of those bicyclists-nearly 11,000 children-were age 14 or younger. Children walking and bicycling to school represent 11 percent of injuries and fatalities during the school commute, but just 14 percent of trips and less than two percent of miles traveled. Transportation for America also recently released a report, Dangerous by Design, identifying the dangers that pedestrians face in 360 metropolitan areas and focusing on solving the epidemic of preventable pedestrian deaths through active transportation. Safe Routes to School programs can provide tangible solutions to major traffic safety issues such as these, making it safer for children-and other residents-to walk and bicycle in their neighborhoods and to and from school.

Congress launched the federal Safe Routes to School program in 2005 through the federal transportation bill and provided $612 million for five years of state-level implementation of programs that build sidewalks, bike lanes, and pathways, while also providing funding for education, promotion, and law enforcement. Federal Safe Routes to School funds are educating children on safe bicycle and pedestrian practices, increasing traffic enforcement to improve adherence to traffic laws and speed limits, and making infrastructure improvements to create safe places for children to walk and bicycle. The report can be viewed at http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership, hosted by the non-profit Bikes Belong Foundation, is a network of more than 400 nonprofit organizations, government agencies, schools, and professionals working together to advance the Safe Routes to School movement in the United States. The Partnership focuses on building partnerships, changing policies, advancing legislation, and improving the built environment.