Short link to this post: http://bit.ly/SafeRoutesMoCo

A new Safe Routes to School website for Monterey County was launched in February 2021 by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County: https://saferoutesmonterey.org

Rutas Seguras a la Escuela / Safe Routes to School — New site for Monterey County: https://bikemonterey.org/new-site-for-safe-routes-to-school-monterey-county.html

For some Bicycling Monterey posts since 2009 related to Safe Routes to School (not all), use the following link: https://bikemonterey.org/category/advocacy-and-infrastructure/safe-routes-to-school

https://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/1565739879966724098?s=20&t=oUTMVcdniXvT5_uW_s5P0w

https://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/1569823972153511938?s=20&t=oUTMVcdniXvT5_uW_s5P0w

https://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/1360474146702905346?s=20&t=oUTMVcdniXvT5_uW_s5P0w

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The information below was published 30 January 2018.

The Safe Routes to School Launch Program, a joint project of Safe Routes to School National Partnership and UC Berkeley SafeTREC, had its pilot year in 2017. Since then, among communities it has helped is the City of Monterey; see Monterey’s Action Plan: http://safetrec.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/monterey_srts_action_plan_final.pdf

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http://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/1038084055730778113

http://twitter.com/BikeMonterey/status/1038484908010663936

Unless otherwise indicated, all links below go to Bicycling Monterey posts or pages that provide general info about those topics.

Among the many, many different ways you can advocate for bicycling— and other active transportation (e.g., walking, skateboarding— is to attend Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) Bicycling and Pedestrian Facilities (“bike-ped”) Advisory Committee meetings. Among the numerous topics addressed at meetings throughout the year is Safe Routes to School (SRTS).

See some highlights below from

TAMC’s Safe Routes to School Program draft.

Among the multiple benefits of children and teens having safe routes to school (and other support for biking/walking/skating for transportation) are the benefits to their physical, mental, and emotional health. There is also a growing body of research regarding the boost to academic success.

Perhaps you’ve seen Bicycling Monterey’s post “Bike to School – Elementary, middle, and high school resources in Monterey County” AKA http://bit.ly/KidsBikeToSchool. 

As mentioned in the “Bike to School” post, when Dr. Hugh Stallworth retired from the Monterey County Health Department after a 42-year career in the field, he told Sara Rubin for the Monterey County Weekly that the most challenging public health issue here is one shared by the nation: childhood obesity. He warned that changing this is going “to have to be an entire community effort. If we don’t solve that one, the prediction is this is the first generation where parents might outlive their kids.”

In January 2018, Monterey Peninsula Unified School Board Trustee Wendy Root Askew tweeted: in some Monterey County communities, nearly 50% of children are now overweight or obese.

Would you like to help more Monterey County children and teens bike to school, or walk or skate to school? Get involved in local Safe Routes to School efforts.

Among items on the agenda for TAMC’s February 7, 2018, 6 p.m. bike-ped meeting is a draft of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, a countywide effort funded through voter-approved Measure X: http://www.tamcmonterey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/COUNTYWIDE-SRTS-PROGRAM-Guidelines_Draft_Jan2018.pdf.

Here are examples from TAMC’s SRTS draft.

Refer to the draft for more information. For any updates to the draft, contact the bike-ped coordinator at TAMC: http://www.tamcmonterey.org/contact/staff/.

• TAMC staff will work with local law enforcement (such as these) and community centers to provide opportunities to train neighborhood volunteers to lead walking school buses. (Idea for bike advocates: Advocate with TAMC to train volunteers for bicycle trains too: http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/walking_school_bus/bicycle_trains.cfm.)
  
• TAMC plans to work with local law enforcement, schools, and high school/community bike shop classes to give repaired bikes to kids in need.
  
• TAMC’s SRTS draft proposes sponsorships for Open Streets events such as Ciclovía Salinas in other communities around Monterey County.
  
• Complete Streets for Pajaro (Monterey County’s northernmost—and often overlooked—community) and Castroville are among the priority projects planned for fiscal years 2018-2023.
  
• TAMC’s focus for Bike Month in May 2018 is the National Bike Month Challenge, and that’s also among TAMC’s SRTS proposals. (Note that this proposal has an added challenge for many people, because it requires online participation http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/22/digital-divide-persists-even-as-lower-income-americans-make-gains-in-tech-adoption/).
  
• Also planned is an Online Safe Routes to School Resource Hub. TAMC no longer has the Bicycling Resources page found on their website in the past. Instead, it now has a short “Information & Resources section” here:  http://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/bike-pedestrian/. As compared to that section, or to Bicycling Monterey/ Information Hub for Biking Monterey County, the new TAMC resource hub, which will be maintained by TAMC, will focus solely on Safe Routes to School.
  

Attend the meeting and learn more about Safe Routes to School possibilities ahead, along with other topics.

Note that the Feb 7, 2018 agenda packet also indicates that in FY 2019/20, mini grants will be available for bike safety instructor certification, as well as school-based Safe Routes to School encouragement programs, high school bike maintenance classes, traffic gardens, traffic safety equipment, crossing guard equipment, and training and neighborhood enforcement programs.

Can’t get to TAMC’s Wednesday evening bike-ped meetings? Consider participating via conference call. Questions? Contact TAMC: http://www.tamcmonterey.org/contact/staff/.

Below: East Market Street in the Alisal / East Salinas, part City of Salinas infrastructure improvements.

Headsup, parents and others driving motor vehicles

At the Safe Routes to School meeting below, the #1 concern of parents and educators attending may be surprising to you. It was people driving too fast in the pick-up zones and parking lots! Please, don’t be one of those people.