1. City of Santa Rosa Pilot Safe Routes to School Program Julia Gonzalez Grant Administrator, City of Santa Rosa, Safe Routes to School Program

2. Santa Rosa SRTS Program  A pilot project in partnership with the Santa Rosa City School District  The first and largest SRTS program in the Sonoma County  Serving 13 elementary and 5 middle schools  A component of the Street Smarts campaign  Federal SRTS grant $250,000  Concludes this academic year

3. Events and Activities  Walk-n-Roll to School Events  Bicycle Rodeos  School Assemblies  Community Events and Fairs

4. Outreach Components  Promotional ads in various local publications  Radio Campaign – The Roads of Our Lives  Facebook ads with walking and cycling safety tips

5. Partnerships and Resources  All materials developed by the City of Santa Rosa are being utilized by the County SRTS Program.  Scripts for school assembly presentations, props, graphics, artwork, music, posters, etc.  Santa Rosa PD Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program.  Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition.

6. What We Learned  Sustainability of these programs relies heavily on a commitment from educators and parent volunteers.  High level of interest from the community.  Economic factors influence the level of parent participation.  Safety (both real and perceived) is the primary factor influencing whether a student walks or is driven to school.

7. What We Learned (cont.)  Other influencing factors include weather conditions and the amount of day light hours.  While events such as Walking Wednesdays or Walk-n-Roll to School Days are valuable tools for generating interest in walking and cycling among students – Parents are an equally, if not more important audience to focus on.

8. Safe Routes to School Improving Health, Safety and Transportation Beth Dadko Co-Coordinator Countywide SRTS Workgroup

9. School Commute Trends Kids ages 5 to 14: 19692009 Usually walked or biked to school 48%13% Arrived in a private auto12%44% Rode school bus38%40% Live within 1 mile of school41%31% Live within 1 mile of school who walk/bike to school 88%38% Source: 2009 National Household Travel Survey

10. Greenhouse Gas Impact FROM 1990 LEVELS  Transportation = 60% of total emissions in 2007  4 of 5 trips in Sonoma County are single-occupant automobiles  School transportation: 20-25% of morning traffic nationally  Sonoma County committed to GHG reduction target of 25% below 1990 levels by 2015

11. Why Should We Care?  Children need physical activity  Safer with less traffic  Pedestrian and bicycle safety are life lessons  Classroom benefits “You cannot educate a child who is not healthy and you cannot keep a child healthy who is not educated.” - Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former US Surgeon General

12. Part of the Solution… Sonoma County is taking action on behalf of children through Safe Routes to School

13. Current SRTS Programs  Measure M Transportation Tax: current base for countywide SRTS Program ($45K/yr)  Current Federal SRTS 5E’s programs South Santa Rosa (7 schools) Sebastopol (4 schools) Rohnert Park (5 schools)  SRTS Countywide Workgroup

14. Elements of SRTS programs  Evaluation  Education  Enforcement  Engineering  Encouragement

15. Evaluation (pre and post data collection)

16. Evaluation – GIS Maps Kawana Elementary School, South Santa Rosa

17.  Increases popularity of walking and bicycling  Is an easy way to start SRTS programs  Emphasizes fun Encouragement

18. Education  Imparts safety skills and awareness  Develops understanding of benefits of walking/bicycling  Fosters life-long safety and healthy habits  Includes parents, neighbors and other drivers Chicago, IL

19. Enforcement  Increases awareness of pedestrians and bicyclists  Improves driver behavior  Helps children follow traffic rules and helmet compliance

20. Engineering  Creates safer conditions for walking and bicycling  Can influence the way people behave West Valley City, UT

21. South Santa Rosa SRTS Program BeforeAfter

22. South Santa Rosa SRTS Program BeforeAfter

23. Safe Routes to School is Effective

24. Attitude Shifts: the first step Strongly Encourage EncourageNeutralDiscourageStrongly Discourage Fall 200820.7%27.6%44.8%1.7%5.2% Spring 2009 37%47.9%15.1%0% Percentage of Parents Who Feel that Kawana Elementary School Encourages or Discourages Walking and Biking to/from School Number of Parents at Kawana Reporting the Level of Fun Walking and Biking to/from School is for Their Child Very FunFunNeutralBoringVery Boring Fall 200813.1%55.7%26.2%1.6%3.3% Spring 2009 31.1%41.9%25.7%1.4%0%

25. Sustainable Funding Opportunities  MTC Regional SRTS by Oct 2011  SRTS Grants Federal Cycle 3- released in spring 2011 State Cycle 10- released in fall 2011

26. What Can Schools/Parents Do?  Promote Walk & Roll to School Day Wednesday, October 6 th, 2011  “Walking Wednesdays”  Start walking school buses or bike trains  Bike rodeos  Resources on website  School newsletters  Assemblies  Prizes for participation

27. What Can Santa Rosa City Council Do?  Assign someone to represent SR on the Countywide SRTS Workgroup  Support the formation of a Santa Rosa SRTS Task Force  Participate in Walk & Roll to School Day Wednesday, October 5, 2011