Nat'l Safe Routes to School State Network Report RELEASED TODAY!

In the winter of 2009, a board member of WalkBikeBerks rallied a large, diverse coalition of stakeholders across Pennsylvania to collaboratively write ands submit a grant application to build the Pennsylvania Safe Routes To School State Network Project. 

The application was accepted, and with the leadership of Pennsylvania Walks & Bikes, the PA SRTS State Network Project launched in January of 2010.

Now, you can read the final report of those efforts, combined with the efforts of the other state networks across the nation. 


Report includes policy successes, lessons learned and local success stories
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s state network project brings together state leaders to remove barriers to walking and bicycling to and from school. We write to share with you the National Partnership’s 2010-2011 report, entitled: Safe Routes to School State Network Project Final Report, 2010-2011: Phase II - Successes and Lessons Learned, which includes policy successes, lessons learned and local success stories that were a result of policy changes led by the 20 state network coalitions.
Key policy wins from each of the 19 network states and the District of Columbia included improvements to state Safe Routes to School programs that increased award and obligation rates for local community grant recipients and lower-income communities, policies creating street-scale improvements for walking and bicycling, school siting and joint use agreements, supporting lower-income communities and improving personal safety. State networks influenced the distribution of more than $100 million in Safe Routes to School funds.
This report was written by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, a national network of more than 550 organizations. The report was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest health foundation. Originally launched in 2007 in 10 states, the project supported networks during 2010 and 2011 in California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania*, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Collectively, the 20 state networks engaged more than 900 partner organizations and agencies as active participants in improving the built environment and increasing physical activity for children, with a focus on serving lower-income communities. The networks each made substantial improvements to transportation policies and funding allocations, safety, land use, the environment and public health. In some states, networks were the first statewide group to address particular policy issues.