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New at streets.mn: Safe Routes to Schools Messaging

I’m happy to announce that I’ve become an occasional contributor to StreetsMN, a blog devoted to discussing transportation infrastructure and planning throughout our fair state. My first contribution, Safe Routes to Schools: Getting the Message Right, talks about the challenge faced by Safe Routes in going beyond marketing the program as a health program and making [...]

February 22nd, 2012 | Category: children on bikes, education, encouragement, engineering, marketing, minnesota, safe routes to schools, share the road, suburbs, transportation options, urban planning | Comments are closed

Not In My Front Yard: Safe Routes Stalls in Blaine Council

Nothing quite like suburbia to make you want to grind your teeth.

In September 2011, MNDOT awarded several Safe Routes to Schools grants to Anoka County suburbs to help encourage kids to walk to school. One of the projects was to improve walkability to Westwood Intermediate and Middle Schools by constructing a six-foot sidewalk on 91st Avenue NE [...]

February 13th, 2012 | Category: anoka county, bicycle advocacy, bicyclists, biking with kids, blaine, children on bikes, common sense, complete streets, education, engineering, minnesota, pedestrian access, public meetings, safe routes to schools, sidewalks, suburbs, transportation options, urban planning | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)

Minnesota Bike Summit Scheduled for March 5

The second Minnesota Bike Summit has been scheduled for Monday, March 5, in Saint Paul. This event, hosted by BikeMN, brings together people from across the state to talk bicycling amongst themselves, then with state officials and elected representatives.

New this year will be scheduled meetings with representatives, with scheduling facilitated by BikeMN — probably in response [...]

February 3rd, 2012 | Category: bicycle advocacy, bicycle alliance of minnesota, bicyclists, bike events, education, encouragement, evaluation, legislation, minnesota, politics, share the road, st. paul, transportation options, urban planning | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)

Gridlock: Why Panic is Overrated When Talking Transpo

Yesterday was the great debate and committee markup session for the House Transportation Bill. As expected, it was all about the posturing about priorities.

Those priorities, per the chief supporters, were highways. A provision revealed in markup yesterday showed that dedicated funding for transit would also disappear.

An amendment to restore enhancements and Safe Routes to Schools failed [...]

February 3rd, 2012 | Category: bicycle advocacy, bicycle laws, bicyclists, common sense, election, evaluation, federal funds, legislation, pedestrian access, politics, road construction, roadway design, roadway use, safe routes to schools, share the road, taxes, transportation options, urban planning | Comments are closed

Tuesday Transpo Bill Update!

Yeah, up the defcon level and shake your panic maker. Today’s the day the proposed Transpo Bill gets published.

Turns out it may be even worse than previously rumored.

A few points:

Transportation Enhancements become optional.
Safe Routes to Schools gets axed.
Eliminated bike/ped coordinators in state DOTs — while presumably, they could still be funded at the state level,it wouldn’t [...]

January 31st, 2012 | Category: bicycle advocacy, bicycle bridges, bicycle facilities, bicycle routes, bicycle safety, bicyclists, bike lanes, complete streets, election, evaluation, federal funds, league of american bicyclists, legislation, pedestrian access, politics, road construction, roadway design, roadway use, safe routes to schools, share the road, transportation options, urban planning | Comments are closed

Advocates, Advocate. Harder.

I’ve been on a wee bit of a spree lately about the continual state of Defcon 11 every time there is federal hiccuping about restricting funds for Transportation Enhancements, or cutting Safe Routes to Schools, or classifying bicycles as vegetables instead of vehicles.

Here’s the thing: These are serious issues. We should be concerned about them. But [...]

January 28th, 2012 | Category: bicycle advocacy, bicycle commuting, bicycle safety, bicyclists, biking with kids, children on bikes, education, encouragement, environmentalism, evaluation, federal funds, legislation, minneapolis, pedestrian access, politics, roadway design, roadway use, safe routes to schools, share the road, transportation options, urban planning | One comment - (Comments are closed)
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