What does the National Household Travel Survey tell us?

The 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) from the Federal Highway Administration is a dataset which inventories the daily travel choices of the nation while allowing website users to quantify, analyze, organize, and interpret the mode share data to fit their needs. This most recent update has an added focus on nonmotorized travel choices. The information obtained from the website allows researchers and others in a wide variety of fields to display relationships between transportation and other aspects of their lives.  Per 2009 NHTS California data, we now know 25% of Californians walk (23%) and or bike (2%) to school.

Bay Area Health in Transportation (BAHT) Collaborative Meeting May 16

Join the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and TransForm to ensure transportation policy is infused with a concern for the health and well-being of all the Bay Area’s communities.

Please register now by clicking here

Details:
Wednesday, May 16, from 10-11 am
Call-in number: (559) 726-1200
Access code: 116936#
Mute option is *6, unmute is *6
Webinar link (optional): http://www.instantpresenter.com/saferoutesurl4

Let’s Move California! Three Day Kick off Celebration in Los Angeles!

Save the Date: June 15th – 17th Let’s Move California kicks off in Los Angeles.  Event organizers are looking for partners across the state to join this event.

On June 15th – 17th in Los Angeles, community members, organizations and leaders throughout California, led by FAME Assistance Corporation (FAC) will join together to launch Let’s Move California!, a statewide mobilization campaign dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.

Riverside County Health Department Uses Bar Codes to Measure Walking Program

The Orrenmaa Elementary School, in the City of Riverside, instituted Safe Routes to School National Walk to School day and Walking Wednesdays in 2010, supported by the Riverside County Health Department’s (RCHD’s) Injury Prevention Services. In the past two years, approximately 200 students from the elementary school regularly participate in the Walking Wednesday program out of a total school population of 800 students. The continued success of the Safe Routes to School Program encouraged RCHD and the school district to elevate the program through piloting a new on-line evaluation program using bar code scanning technology to measure walking data.

On Wednesday, May 2, 2012, the school is one of the early adopters of this bar code scanning technology to walking and bicycling programs for to presenting real time data and active transportation metrics. Participating students will carry key tags, shaped like a shoe, on lanyards on their way to school (pictured below on the right). Once students arrive at school, parent volunteers will scan the tags using wireless bar code scanners. Then, the data will be uploaded onto a website administered by the Safe Routes To School program. Parents are given the option to receive an email or text letting them know that their child arrived at school. At the same time, Orrenmaa will add two more programs for students: (1) Running Club/Fit Fridays and (2) Special Needs students will be given the opportunity to earn rewards by walking/rolling during recess.

Safe Routes to School Regional Plan – San Diego County

Why?  “A regional strategy will ensure that the tools provided are germane and that resources are focused in areas across the region with the greatest need for assistance.”

Porter Elementary, San Diego Photo Credit: Safe Routes to School National Partnership

In March 2012, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) adopted a Regional Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan. Now the Transportation Agency is working to implement, in partnership with stakeholders throughout the County, this important plan to enhance and build upon the region’s existing efforts.

Now that the Strategic Plan has been adopted, the recommendations will be prioritized.  The plan calls for a phasing and financing strategy to be developed and a needs analysis to define areas that will receive priority for some of the resources recommended in the strategy

SANDAG began developing the Strategic Plan in September 2010 with funding through the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Healthy Works program.

Reflections On Active Transportation in SCAG’s RTP

Gateway to the City of Dreams Mural (Union Station)

The passage of the 2012 SCAG RTP/SCS concluded one chapter in the marathon planning effort that included SCAG staff and the hundreds of advocates who worked tirelessly to have their voices heard (See our previous blog post for more details on: Lessons Learned from Southern California). It is therefore encouraging that most accounts of the plan consider it a solid step in the right direction.  However, some would ask the question, “Did the plan go far enough?” and “What’s next?”

One of the key differences found in this iteration of Southern California Association of Governments’ (SCAG’s) Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is the inclusion of the Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS). The SCS was mandated by SB 375 and it includes strategies that seek to reduce air pollution, increase the number of walkable and bikeable communities, mitigate urban sprawl, encourage transit oriented development, create streets for all modes and abilities, and improve the quality of life for Southern Californians.

One More Push Needed for regional SRTS funding and complete streets in the Bay Area!

photo by sfbike

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) released a new revision of the One Bay Area Grant proposal. Thanks to the advocacy of many of us, the new proposal has made significant changes to improve active transportation.

Regional Safe Routes to School funding was increased to $20 million over four years, after having been threatened with massive cuts. That’s a big win for our children!

Also, counties and cities will be required to adopt complete streets resolutions in order to receive One Bay Area Grant funding. This will go a long way to ensuring the Bay Area is friendly to bicyclists and pedestrians.

TAKE ACTION: We need one more push to cement these gains!

Bay Area Health in Transportation (BAHT) Collaborative Meeting April 18

Join the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and TransForm to ensure transportation policy is infused with a concern for the health and well-being of all the Bay Area’s communities.

Please register now by clicking here

Details:
Wednesday, April 18, from 10-11 am
Call-in number: (559) 726-1200
Access code: 116936#
Mute option is *6, unmute is *6
Webinar link (optional): http://www.instantpresenter.com/saferoutesurl4

Grant Reminder – 2012 Roadmaps to Health Call for Proposals

A reminder of the 2012 Roadmaps to Health Call for Proposals. See details in a previous microsite post too, link here.

The Roadmaps to Health Community Grants will support two-year state and local efforts among policymakers, business, education, health care, public health and community organizations. Community Catalyst will manage the grant as part of the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI). Up to 20 coalitions will be awarded grants to create policy or system change to address the social and economic factors that impact the health of people in their community.

Playing Smart: A New Guide to Help Communities Open the Schoolyards

photo by phalinn

How can communities overcome concerns over liability, maintenance, security, and costs to gain access of local school facilities, like gyms, fields, basketball courts, and playgrounds?  The answer is joint use agreements – written contracts that explicitly spelling out terms to allow public agencies and nonprofits share costs and responsibilities.

Cities and towns around the country enter into creative joint use agreements to provide services and benefits for the community. The beauty of joint use agreements documents is flexibility. Every agreement and partnership can be tailored to the needs of the community, such as safe places for children to play, fitness facilities for working families, public gathering spaces, and a transit friendly location for programming. Links to the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Children Obesity’s joint use guide below.