OSPI Safe Routes to School Summer Institutes

OSPI Safe Routes to School 

Summer Institutes

Seattle Pre-Institute– August 9th Institute – August 10th

Spokane Pre-Institute – August 16th Institute – August 17th

Come take part in this opportunity to share and learn about creating safe routes to school in Washington State.

The Summer Institutes are offered to participants in the SRTS Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Education grant 2010-2012, as well as educators and individuals interested in the Safe Routes to School. The Institute will provide an opportunity for teachers, volunteers, and interested individuals to attend sessions on bike and pedestrian safety education, encouragement and engineering best practices, and many other topics.

Pre-Institute:  Come to this day if you are… 

• New to Safe Routes to School and want an overview of the SRTS Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Education Curriculum so you can implement the program next fall or include it in future SRTS grant proposals 
• Familiar with Safe Routes to School and want to gain hands-on skills on specific topics (such as bike handling skills, walking audits, telling your story about Safe Routes to School, etc).

Institute:  Everyone should come to this day to share experiences, develop new skills, and learn about best practices around the state of Washington.

The Summer Institutes are free to attend but registration is required. Teachers can receive at least 8 clock hours free through OSPI if you register in advance.

 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE 

QUESTIONS: Seth Schromen-Wawrin (Safe Routes to School Project Coordinator, Bicycle Alliance of Washington)

Summer Institutes Supported by:

Bicycle Alliance of Washington

Cascade Bicycle Club – Education Foundation

Feet First

King County Food and Fitness Initiative

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Spokane Regional Health District

Washington Department of Transportation

Safe Routes to School Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Education Grant 2010-2012
funded to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction by the Washington State Department of Transportation

Friday Fun: Way Back Home

Danny MacAskill is an amazing bike handler and I never tire of watching of this video. All that Scottish landscape is bonus.  Happy Friday!

Say hello to Elliott Bangs

Please welcome Elliott Bangs, who has joined the Bicycle Alliance staff as our Office and Membership Manager.  He is a lifelong resident of Puget Sound and previously served as the Membership and IT Coordinator at CityClub, a Seattle nonprofit which promotes civic engagement.

Elliott is delighted to be part of an organization that promotes the growth of bicycling in Washington.  He recently returned from a six-month, 6000-mile solo bicycle tour from Seattle to the Panama Canal.

"I dreamed of taking such a trip since the summer of 2006, when I first toured on the Pacific Coast.  That was the summer I truly fell in love with the bicycle," recalled Elliott.  "Having crossed the deserts of Mexico and the seemingly-endless mountain ranges of Guatemala, my daily cross-town commute might still be my proudest cycling accomplishment," he added.

When not at work, pedaling, eating or sleeping, Elliott is aspiring to be a fiction writer.

Green Lane Project to increase safety and put motorists, bicyclists at ease

pedbikeimages.org/Elvert Barnes

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood recently announced the launching of Bikes Belong's Green Lane Project--a pilot project to support the development of world-class bicycle facility networks in six cities:  Austin, Chicago, Memphis, Portland (OR), San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

According to Bikes Belong: 

Green lanes are dedicated, inviting spaces for people on bikes in the roadway, protected by curbs, planters, posts or parked cars. The goal of the Green Lane Project is to support the selected cities in their efforts to develop and install these kinds of facilities. Recent studies have demonstrated their benefits nationwide. In Washington, D.C., bicycle volume tripled after protected lanes were installed. In Portland, Ore., more than 70 percent of survey respondents said bicycling is easier and safer with these dedicated lanes, while motorists said the facilities did not make driving any slower or less convenient.

Read Ray LaHood's blog post:

Green Lane Project to increase safety and put motorists, bicyclists at ease - Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Friday Fun: Pedal Power

This is a nice photo essay celebrating the use of pedal power around the world.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/06/pedal_power.html

Hub and Spoke is Returning to Vancouver

Bicycle Alliance of Washington is returning to Vancouver with another Hub and Spoke event!  This time we’ve partnered with Bike Clark County to present a half-day workshop to discuss techniques and opportunities to grow bicycling in Vancouver and surrounding communities.

 

Hub and Spoke: Vancouver

Growing Bicycling in Your Community

June 21, 2012, 12:00-4:45pm

Public Service Center, 6^th floor, Hearing Room

1300 Franklin Street, Vancouver

In this interactive workshop, attendees will examine models from around the state and nationally, discuss opportunities to promote safety, expand Safe Routes to Schools, and learn how to engage your community to make riding a bike easier for everyone. discuss opportunities to promote safety and economic development locally, and develop tools for engaging with local and state governments to make riding a bike easier in their community.  We’ll also take a short bike tour, so be sure to bring your bike!

There is no charge for the workshop but space is limited, so please register using our online registration form.  Light refreshments will be provided.  The workshop will be followed by a Hub and Spoke Happy Hour.

Can’t attend the workshop but still interested in getting the lowdown on what’s happening for bicycling?  Join us for a post-workshop happy hour which will include a discussion with state and local advocates.  No RSVP is necessary for the Happy Hour.  Celebrate Bike to Work Week with us!

Hub and Spoke Social Hour

5-7 pm at Niche Wine Bar

1013 Main Street, Vancouver

National Bike Challenge off to a Good Start

Thanks to Scott Chilberg for assisting with this post.

May – Bike Month -- kicked off the 2012 Get Up and Ride National Bike Challenge, a free nationwide competition that encourages biking as a primary form of transportation and recreation. The Challenge, which runs through August, gives individuals and teams the opportunity to log their miles and compete for prizes. This is the Challenge’s debut year and the Bicycle Alliance, always seeking ways to grow bike ridership, was excited to step up as state representative.

“Not all of our communities hold Bike to Work events,” stated Bicycle Alliance ED Barbara Culp.  “This is an opportunity for all Washington bike riders to get involved with an organized event that tracks their miles and qualifies them for prizes. For bicyclists who are signed up for local Bike to Work events, this is an incentive to keep their bike momentum going throughout the summer.”

We had 480 Washington bicyclists registered for the first month of the Challenge. Bike riders from Port Angeles to Clarkston are biking to work, to the store and for fun.  Nationally, nearly 26,000 riders were signed up for the Challenge in May. 

Each month, riders’ miles will qualify them for prize drawings both nationally and locally.  Alchemy Goods of Seattle has generously donated some of their products as prizes.  Congratulations to Glen Buhlmann and Dave Braun.  They were the winners of our local prize drawing for May.

The Challenge runs through the end of August so it’s not too late to sign up.  Go to nationalbikechallenge.org to register.