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Dylan Rivera

Public Information Officer

503-823-3723

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Transit Trekkers

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Safe Routes to School includes TriMet

With school about to start up again now is great time to think about you and your family's best routes to school and work. 

Over at the BTA blog is a great story about an often unexplored safe route to school.  The Emerson School in downtown Portland started a program they call "Transit Trekkers," which connects nearby families and bus routes, pays for the transit fare, and coordinates rotating adult chaperons to escort the kiddos to and from school.  It's like a carpool on the bus (which makes it unbelievably carbon-lite!).

Image: bta4bikes.org/btablog

According to the BTA Blog school administrators "superimposed a map of Emerson families’ homes with a transit map, and sent out personal emails to several clusters of families that all lived on the same bus or MAX rail line, reminding them about the free tickets, and suggesting they may want to ride together."

That coordination encouraged 120 bus trips for students and 80 for the parents or transit chaperons.  The free tickets were made possible by a National Safe Routes mini-Grants.  These mini-grants are still available - consider starting a Transit Trekkers group in your community!

And don't forget about National Bike and Walk to School Day coming up in October! 

Call for Applications: Spring 2012 Safe Routes to School Mini-grants

The National Center for Safe Routes to School is now accepting applications for 25 mini-grants of $1,000 each.

 

Check out this funding opportunity below. This is the award The Emerson School won last year and used to fund their nifty TriMet Trekkers program.

 

Call for Applications: Spring 2012 Safe Routes to School Mini-grants


View Call for Applications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The National Center for Safe Routes to School is now accepting applications for 25 mini-grants of $1,000 each. These mini-grants support the goal of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs, which is to enable and encourage children to safely walk and bicycle to school. SRTS programs are implemented nationwide by parents, students, schools, community leaders, and local, state, and tribal governments.

Mini-grants fund activities that range from the nuts and bolts that help start or sustain a program to new ideas that explore the range of benefits of safe walking and bicycling. Selected mini-grant proposals will fit a school's identified needs and interests around safe walking and bicycling. The mini-grant activities should occur between January 1, 2012, and the end of the Spring 2012 semester.

Applications are due Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

For more information about the National Center's mini-grant program, visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/funding-portal/mini-grants.

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About The National Center for Safe Routes to School


Established in May 2006, the National Center for Safe Routes to School assists states and communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bicycle to school. The National Center serves as the clearinghouse for the federal Safe Routes to School program. The organization also provides technical support and resources and coordinates online registration efforts and provides technical support and resources for U.S. Walk to School Day and facilitates worldwide promotion and participation. The National Center is part of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. For more information, visit www.saferoutesinfo.org.

Now is the time to signup for International Walk + Bike to School Day!

Is your school on the list of schools that have already registered for International Walk+Bike to School Day?

Friends!

DSC_0183-300x199 Is your school on the list of schools that have already registered for International Walk+Bike to School Day?

If not, now is the time to register! International Walk+Bike to School Day is coming up on October 5!

Join students and families across the globe who are celebrating International Walk+Bike to School Day to promote the benefits of safe, healthy, active transportation.

Be one of the first 240 schools to register, and you'll receive a FREE package of incentive prizes - including a Nutcase helmets, neon shoelaces, and reflective stickers - to encourage students to walk and bike.

If you've already signed up, your incentive package will arrive in mid-September. Now is the time to start preparing the day's event. This year, Walk+Bike partners are offering several training opportunities along with resources available online.

Want some tips on how to organize? We've got lots of 20th and 21st century options...
 

 

Wednesday, September 14th

Walk + Bike Coordinator Webinar
3:30PM – 4:15PM
Walk + Bike Coordinator Webinar

 

For those who are new to W+B Day, learn from seasoned pros. And for those who have participated, hear new ideas for a successful event. Features three Oregon communities and what they have done in their urban, suburban, and rural locations.

To RSVP, please email lynnemutrie@comcast.net

Thursday, September 15th

International Walk + Bike Day Training
4:00PM – 5:00PM at the Belmont Library, 1038 SE Cesar E Chavez Blvd.

Overview of how to organize International W+B Day at your school and receive free incentives from Safe Routes to School.
RSVP to Carolina Iraheta Gonzalez, Safe Routes to School – Organizer, Carolina.Iraheta@portlandoregon.gov, Phone: 503-823-1189

Monday, September 19th

International Walk + Bike Day Training
3:30PM – 4:30PM at the North Portland Library, 512 N Killingsworth St.

Overview of how to organize International W+B Day at your school and receive free incentives from Safe Routes to School.
RSVP to Carolina Iraheta Gonzalez, Safe Routes to School – Organizer, Carolina.Iraheta@portlandoregon.gov, Phone: 503-823-1189

Tuesday, September 20th

International Walk + Bike Day Training
12:00PM – 1:00PM at the Midland Library, 805 SE 122nd Ave
.

Overview of how to organize International W+B Day at your school and receive free incentives from Safe Routes to School.
RSVP to Carolina Iraheta Gonzalez, Safe Routes to School – Organizer, Carolina.Iraheta@portlandoregon.gov, Phone: 503-823-1189


We also have some great free resources for Portland schools – including maps and incentive prizes for students – available from the City of Portland’s Safe Routes to School. Click here to order online, or contact Safe Routes at SafeRoutes@PortlandOregon.gov or 503-823-1189 to request a paper order form.

We're excited to have you back and are looking forward to a great International Walk+Bike to School Day!


Dear Gabe,

DSC_0183-300x199Welcome back to Walk + Bike season!

Is your school on the list of schools that have already registered for International Walk+Bike to School Day?

If not, now is the time to register! International Walk+Bike to School Day is coming up on October 5!

Join students and families across the globe who are celebrating International Walk+Bike to School Day to promote the benefits of safe, healthy, active transportation.

Be one of the first 240 schools to register, and you'll receive a FREE package of incentive prizes - including a Nutcase helmets, neon shoelaces, and reflective stickers - to encourage students to walk and bike.

If you've already signed up, your incentive package will arrive in mid-September. Now is the time to start preparing the day's event. This year, Walk+Bike partners are offering several training opportunities along with resources available online.

Walk+Bike Coordinator Webinar
School coordinators around the state can participate in a free webinar training on September 14th from 3:30 - 4:15PM. To RSVP, please email lynnemutrie@comcast.net

image001Walk+Bike Blog
Also on the blog, we are sharing tips and successes from schools around the state so we can spread ideas and learn from each other. If you've got tips/stories to share, email us about doing a feature on your school/community.

Portland Coordinator Resources
If you are in Portland there are in-person trainings on 8/30, 9/15, 9/19, and 9/20 (check out this calendar of events to get times and addresses). 

There are also some great free resources for Portland schools – including maps and incentive prizes for students – available from the City of Portland’s Safe Routes to School. Click 
here to order online, or contact Safe Routes at SafeRoutes@PortlandOregon.gov or 503-823-1189 to request a paper order form.

We're excited to have you back and are looking forward to a great Walk+Bike Day! 

All the best!

-The Walk+Bike Team

NEWS RELEASE: More than 40 percent of Portland Safe Routes to School students walk or bike to school

Walking and bicycling are great ways to be physically active, and Portland Safe Routes to School students walk and bike to school at a rate more than twice the national average.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 8, 2011

 

Contact:

Mark Lear - Portland Bureau of Transportation

mark.lear@portlandoregon.gov

Desk: 503-823-7604

News Release:

More than 40 percent of Portland Safe Routes to School students walk or bike to school

 

Walking and bicycling are great ways to be physically active, and Portland Safe Routes to School students walk and bike to school at a rate more than twice the national average. That is important because, nationally, 61 percent of children aged 9 – 13 do not participate in any physical activity during non-school hours. Locally, physical education currently is not a daily practice in schools in Portland.

More than 40 percent of students at Safe Routes partner schools walk or bicycle to school. That is significantly higher than the national average of 11 percent active trips to school (National Household Travel Survey 2009). It is also a local increase, up from 31 percent when the program began collecting data in the fall of 2006.

Prescott Elementary, in Parkrose School District, was one of the first schools to join Safe Routes and has had remarkable success with the program. “Safe Routes to School provides significant benefits for Parkrose students and families,” said Parkrose Superintendent Karen Gray. “We’re proud of the fact that thanks to our partnership, every Parkrose student enters middle school having learned how to safely cross the street and navigate their neighborhood on bike.”

Students at Bridlemile School in SW Portland and Boise Eliot in NE Portland will be the first of thousands at 40 schools throughout the city to receive bicycle and pedestrian safety instruction this year provided through Portland Safe Routes to School. Helmets and bicycles from the Safe Routes fleet are rotated to different schools throughout the year.

Safe Routes has worked to make the streets around schools safer in an effort to reduce the number of parents driving their students to school. Walking and biking also reduces congestion during the busy morning commute and gives our young people needed physical activity. Since its start in 2005, Safe Routes has completed safety projects at 28 elementary and K-8 schools across the city. This summer, the program completed dozens of projects including pedestrian crossing and traffic calming improvements.

In addition to these localized improvements, Safe Routes has also worked on building a safe and family-friendly network in partnership with the Transportation Bureau’s Neighborhood Greenway program. More than 30 miles of neighborhood greenways have been constructed the past two years. By January 2012, 50 percent of Portland households will be within a half mile of a neighborhood greenway, greatly increasing students’ options for walking and biking to school.

During this back to school season, the Safe Routes program asks motorists to drive with additional caution and obey the 20 MPH speed limit in school zones. To further ensure student safety on the trip to school, Safe Routes partners with Portland Police on a citywide school safety mission. Running from Sept. 6 every weekday through Sept. 16, dozens of officers from across the Portland Police Bureau are placing special emphasis on enforcing traffic laws in school zones, bus zones, and crosswalks. Fines for speeding in a school zone could be as high as $251.00 for as little as ten miles over the posted speed. Media interested in observing this mission should contact PPB Sgt. Peter Simpson at 503-823-0830 or peter.simpson@portlandoregon.gov.

Portland Safe Routes to School is a partnership of the City of Portland, schools, neighborhoods, community organizations and agencies that advocates for and implements programs that make walking and biking around our neighborhoods and schools fun, easy, safe and healthy for all students and families. Learn more about Safe Routes to School by visiting www.SafeRoutesPortland.org.


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