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About Safe Routes
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In February 2011, we received notice that VTrans had awarded a two-year contract to administer the Safe Routes to School program statewide to Toole Design Group, a consulting firm based in Boston. Local Motion had submitted a proposal as well in cooperation with Center for Health and Learning and the Vermont Association of Planning and Development Agencies, but our proposal was not selected.
 We are now working wtih the new team -- led by
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, a consultant and a Vermont native with extensive Safe Routes experience -- to keep up the momentum for Safe Routes. We encourage all the schools we have worked with in Chittenden County over the last five years to contact Abby about the next phase of the program.
More information about the Safe Routes program and the resources it offers is available at:
www.saferoutes.vermont.gov
Local Motion continues to work with schools and other community partners on a variety of projects that make it easier and more fun to walk and bike, whether to school, to work, or to the other side of the state. Here are a few links to Local Motion initiatives that might be of interest:
- Our bike skills training program for kids offers intensive on-bike skills training in a fun, fast-paced format. We work with municipal parks & rec programs, after-school programs, and PE teachers to give kids the skills and the confidence they need to get around by bike.
- Our safe streets initiative brings together police departments and community volunteers to promote a culture of mutual respect among motorists, bike riders, and pedestrians.
Many thanks to all the schools we've worked with -- over two dozen! -- over the last five years. You have done an amazing job of making walking and biking to school "normal" again, and we are proud to have been able to help along the way. We will continue our work with schools in a variety of ways, from bike skills training to infrastructure projects to our earn-a-bike program, and look forward to working with many of you in the years to come.
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Safe Routes to School is a nationwide initiative whose goal is to get more kids walking and biking to school by making it safer and easier for them to do so. The program was founded in the 1990s as it became clear that rates of walking and biking to school had dropped precipitously in only a little more than a generation. The federal government now provides hundreds of millions of dollars of funding nationally every year to school districts, communities, and nonprofits that work to promote Safe Routes goals on a school by school basis.
Safe Routes work is guided by what are known as the Five E's: Engineering, Enforcement, Encouragement, Education, and Evaluation.
- Engineering refers to any changes to the physical landscape at or near schools that make walking and biking safer and easier, from new sidewalks and crosswalks to speed bumps and other traffic calming devices
- Enforcement covers everything from crossing guards to speed limit enforcement to safety patrols
- Encouragement includes a range of strategies for promoting more walking and biking, including walking school buses, bike trains, punchcards and other incentive programs, and maps of best routes to school
- Education refers to efforts to both educate students, staff, and community members about the importance of walking and biking and build students' skills as safe walkers and bikers
- Evaluation closes the loop with parent surveys, tallies of student participation in walking and biking, and other tools for assessing how good of a job the program is doing at addressing barriers to walking and biking
For more information about Safe Routes, visit the National Center for Safe Routes to School.
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Our Safe Routes Team
See the "Participating Schools" list for full names of and links to individual schools.
Jason Van Driesche, Education and Safety Manager
861-2700, ext. 109 (office) or 735-7271 (mobile)
jason@localmotion.org
Schools: Marcotte, Tuttle
** Contact Jason with any general questions about Local Motion's Safe Routes program. **
Pam Mathews, Regional Coordinator
482-4120 or 363-5231
pam@localmotion.org
Schools: Allen Brook, Chamberlin, Founder's, Hinesburg, Jericho, Lake Champlain Waldorf, Orchard, Shelburne, Westford, Williston Central
Jill Nye-McKeown, Regional Coordinator
860-7505 or 355-7506
jill@localmotion.org
Schools: Barnes, Champlain, Colchester Middle, Edmunds Elementary, Edmunds Middle, Flynn, Mallett's Bay, Porter's Point, Smith, Wheeler
Barb Pitfido, Regional Coordinator
655-1384 or 233-8952
barb@localmotion.org
Schools: Milton, JFK Elementary, St. Francis Xavier, Williston Middle
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Local Motion is working with over two dozen schools around Chittenden County to make it safer and easier for kids to walk and bike to school!
Burlington
Colchester
Essex
Hinesburg
Jericho
Milton
Shelburne
South Burlington
Westford
Williston
Winooski
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