(Photo © J. Maus)
This week, Portland is playing host to the Safe Routes to School National Conference. The event is hosted by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) and they report that over 500 attendees have registered.
Attendees include biking and walking advocates, health care providers, city planners, transportation experts and a host of other professionals and practitioners. The goal is to get inspired, share best practices, and focus efforts on getting more kids to school under their own power.
In addition to three days of panel discussions, presentations and mobile workshops, the event is anchored by keynotes from major players in the bicycling and health advocacy world.
Safe Routes to Schools programs got their first big boost in the U.S. when they were funded in the 2005 transportation bill. Since then, the federal government has awarded over $350 million to the program. The money is doled out by state departments of transportation. In Portland, the City’s Bureau of Transportation manages a large program and they partner with the BTA to bring the curriculum to local elementary schools.
On Thursday, I’ll be joining City of Eugene Safe Routes coordinator Shane Rhodes for his presentation on how advocacy and organizing efforts are being impacted by the new media landscape.
Stay tuned for more coverage of this event in the coming days. Check the full schedule and learn more about the conference at SafeRoutesConference.org.