thoughts on Safe Routes to School and life skills

I've referred to Safe Routes to School programs a few times in previous blog posts. A successful program that encourages more families to let their kids walk or bike to school means less traffic, less stress for kids and school neighbors, healthy transportation and exercise for kids.

I have friends who have been involved in organizing these programs at schools in various neighborhoods over the years. Talking with them about their efforts made me think of my own experiences walking to school as a kid.

Compared to riding in a car, it increased my awareness of surroundings, helped me learn street smarts and navigation, and develop decision making skills. Walking or biking or using public transit is about much more than transportation. These are building blocks for many important life skills.

If kids are driven everywhere in the name of "safety" and they never have this kind of learning opportunity, are they as well prepared as they could be for high school, college and life after school?  How safe are they later on when they are trying to function independently, beyond the cocoon their parents have created for them?

Several years ago, I met students who were juniors and seniors in high school who were attempting for the first time to navigate independently outside their neighborhoods and figure out how to get where they were going on public transit. They got lost and were an hour late for the workshop they were attending. Examples like this are all too common now.

Investing in ways to make our streets safer for pedestrians and bikes is an investment in quality of life in our community - for the present and the future.

do you want to see bike routes in the 19th ward?

With the addition of dockless bike share in our ward, Alderman O'Shea seems more open to the idea of creating bike routes to encourage more bike riding and more use of the dockless bikes.  This is a welcome opportunity to give input on a set of bike route ideas that were developed by CDOT during the initial round of public outreach for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020.

The plan includes different types of routes, ranging from neighborhood greenways (for residential streets) to protected bike lanes on major streets like Vincennes.

Better conditions for riding can encourage development and growth of Safe Routes to School programs so that more kids can walk and bike safely to neighborhood schools. We've all seen how crazy and dangerous streets around schools can be around drop-off and pick-up times. Conditions can be hazardous for the kids themselves, for neighbors, and for anyone who needs to pass through those areas or streets that parents use to get there. I'm sure that many of you have seen the huge difference in morning and afternoon traffic volumes between weekdays when schools are in session and summer weekdays. Walking and biking without all that additional traffic is much safer and more pleasant.

If a lot more kids are walking and biking instead of being driven to school, it's a valuable opportunity for them to learn about navigating their neighborhood, street safety, decision making, and the environment around them. It creates a foundation for many basic life skills.

One of the benefits that many communities have seen from more people getting around by bike instead of car is a boost to neighborhood business districts. As long as there's a place to lock up bikes, and it's a place people can easily reach by bike, studies have shown that making streets more bike friendly can increase revenues. Local and regional bike touring bring more business once the word gets out that riding conditions are good.

Bike rides to visit craft breweries are increasingly popular. Those riders may visit other businesses along the way, in addition to breweries and brewpubs. Attracting a large bike group can bring $$$$ to our business districts. Businesses can serve a lot more customers if they're coming by bike instead of needing a lot of parking spaces. Unique businesses can make a neighborhood a popular destination.

You can take the survey here. The first map below shows an overview of the whole ward, while the 5 areas in smaller detail maps correspond to questions in the survey.

Area 1

Area 2

Area 3

Area 4

Area 5

The survey will be open until 10/31.  We hope that you'll spend a few minutes to take it.

If there are streets in the ward where you would like to be able to ride but you don't because conditions are too dangerous, please include that in comments.

creative living in the city

Are you familiar with Safe Routes to School? If you have kids, you should be. Tomorrow at lunchtime, Shana Hazan, Director of Safe Routes to School programs for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, will be doing a presentation on the program at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph, in the Claudia Cassidy Theater. You can check out this free 1-hour program starting at 12:15 on Thursday 9/11.

safe routes to school and the Illinois legislature

The Safe Routes to School program faces a ridiculous hurdle in our state. We have the federal money available and allocated to add sidewalks, crosswalks and other improvements, but it's being held up at the state level, which could result in many projects not being completed before the start of the next school year.

In their current state, too many areas are not safe for children to walk to school, so many are bused or driven for short distances that they could otherwise, giving them more exercise. It's bad enough when clueless people destroy existing sidewalks for selfish reasons. (Click here for earlier story and here for photo.) If you're interested in a healthy streets initiative, click here for more info.

The icing on the cake is the Illinois legislators' proposal to vote themselves a pay raise while we're facing a significant budget deficit and they failed us so miserably on budget negotiations last year. Sheesh! Ya gotta earn it, folks!

safe routes to school and transportation enhancements

Yesterday the Illinois House passed H.B. 4757 (the Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School Transparency Act) by a vote of 109-0. CBF worked with Rep. Elaine Nekritz to get this bill passed. Rep. Nekritz is a longtime friend of CBF and bicyclists.

H.B. 4757 creates procedures to ensure that IDOT uses federal monies to fund the best projects consistently and transparently. The current funding process for projects under these two programs is shrouded in mystery and lacks a schedule. To read more, click here.

To make this bill a law, its companion bill (S.B. 2311) must be passed in the Senate. Call your Senator to ask for support of S.B. 2311. Also, thank your Representative for passing H.B. 4757. Click here to find your elected officials if you're not sure who to contact.