Today, more than ever, there is a need to provide safe routes and encourage our children to walk and bicycle to school. Yet sadly Jackson struggles with traffic congestion around many of our schools and parents pay a high price in the amount of driving time and energy used. At the same time, children in general engage in less physical activity, which contributes to the growing epidemic of obesity and related health problems.

At first glance, these problems may seem to be separate issues, but Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs can address all these challenges through a coordinated action plan.  While many of Teton County’s schools now have some pathways and sidewalks, significant barriers remain that are unsafe and discourage many from walking or bicycling to school.

To encourage more kids to bike and walk to school, we must both educate kids about the skills needed to travel safely to encourage them to walk and bike to school, and complete the sidewalk and pathway system to connect homes with schools.

Friends of Pathways is working in partnership with the Teton County School District #1 and Jackson Hole Community Pathways on an important Safe Routes to School project proposed for High School Road.  We are also helping to develop a bike and walk to school education program to assist the schools in the development of “best-practice” programs to teach kids how to safely walk and bike to school.

Your support of Friends of Pathways allows us to help in two ways – to help expand the existing education and encouragement components to teach kids the safe skills needed to travel to school, and to advocate for the timely completion of missing sidewalks and pathways

Friends of Pathways (FoP) is the community advocate for Safe Routes to School.  We are also a partner with government agencies for construction support, education efforts, and ongoing stewardship of pathways and sidewalks once complete.

(FoP) is working diligently with local government to help complete the remaining pathway system. We will continue to help address problems and barriers in the existing system, and to partner with agencies on enhancing the community pathways. One of the most important aspects of our work is to support and assist in development of safe routes to school.

Friends of Pathways will help you understand the great opportunities Safe Routes to School present for children, parents and our community. We believe the best outcomes often come from effective public participation, and FoP will be one of the lead community partners in encouraging the development of a comprehensive Safe Routes to School program.

Please sign up for our e-mail alerts, and Friends of Pathways will keep you informed and provide the specifics on how you can help.  FoP will do the hard work of researching Safe Routes to School plans and provide our members useful fact sheets to best utilize your time and maximize your effectiveness in commenting.

Completing the Pathways System and building safe streets by correcting high priority safety problems, such as those along High School Road, benefits from public support and involvement. Friends of Pathways will help our members stay informed and we hope you will become involved!

The Safe Routes to School Jackson Hole partnership will include and welcome public comment. Friends of Pathway will help you understand - in useful terms - the sometimes complicated process of building sidewalks, pathways, and provide simple and time efficient methods for you to help shape future government and school programs to create Safe Routes to School.

The best outcomes almost always include effective public participation, and FoP will take a leadership role in encouraging public support for pathways.

Please sign up for our e-mail alerts so that Friends of Pathways can keep you informed and provide the specifics on how you can help.  FoP will do the hard work of researching agency pathway plans and provide useful factual summaries to best utilize your time and maximize your effectiveness in commenting.

Today, more than ever, there is a need to provide options that allow children to walk and bicycle to school safely. Many communities struggle with traffic congestion around schools and motor vehicle emissions polluting the environment. At the same time, children in general engage in less physical activity, which contributes to the growing epidemic of obesity. At first glance, these problems may seem to be separate issues, but Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs can address all these challenges through a coordinated action plan.

This section provides an introduction to the new national SRTS programs. The most recent Transportation Act passed by Congress created for the first time a new national program called Safe Routes to School, and provided the states with nearly $1 billion to implement improvements to our nations schools and communities. Wyoming receives approximately $1 million per year for a new statewide grant program to assist communities in our state.

The new program was created as congress learned about the reasons why fewer children are walking and bicycling to school, what caused this shift from a generation ago and the unintended consequences that possibly result. SRTS programs have a growing record of success as communities seek to increase the number of children walking and bicycling safely to school. This guide provides descriptions of many promising programs and community success stories.

SRTS programs use a variety of education, engineering and enforcement strategies that help make routes safer for children to walk and bicycle to school and encouragement strategies to entice more children to walk and bicycle. They have grown popular in recent years in response to problems created by an expanding built environment, a growing reliance on motor vehicles for student transportation and with the more recent development of federal and state funding of SRTS programs.

Each school starts from a unique situation and with different circumstances. Some schools have great places for walking and bicycling but few students are taking advantage of it. Other communities have children walking and bicycling to school in unsafe conditions or along poorly maintained routes, while some communities do not have children walking or bicycling to school at all. Successful SRTS programs involve the whole community. Parents, children, neighborhood groups, schools, law enforcement officers, community leaders and transportation and public health professionals help identify the issues and solutions.

The implications of SRTS can be far-reaching. SRTS programs can improve safety, not just for children, but also for all pedestrians and bicyclists in Jackson Hole. They provide opportunities for people to become more physically active and to rely less on their motor vehicles. SRTS programs benefit the environment and a community’s quality of life by reducing traffic congestion, greenhouse gasses, and motor vehicle emissions. 

Elements of Safe Routes to School Programs
Communities use many different approaches to make it safer and more rewarding for children to walk and bicycle to school.  Programs use a combination of education, encouragement, enforcement and engineering activities to help achieve their goals. Another important element is evaluation, which is incorporated into each of these areas.

Because the needs of every community will be unique, each community or individual school may choose to emphasize different components to make its program work. Some schools have built sidewalks or painted crosswalks to enhance safety, while others have started Frequent Walker Clubs to motivate children to be active. Regardless of the focus, safety is the first concern. The following information explains the basic elements of a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.

Education
Education activities target parents, neighbors and other drivers in the community to remind them to yield to pedestrians, to drive safely and to take other actions to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Parents serve as role models for their children and play an important part in teaching them pedestrian and bicycle safety. Education activities also teach students how to walk and bicycle safely and the benefits of doing so.

Encouragement
Encouragement strategies generate excitement about walking and bicycling safely to school. Children, parents, teachers, school administrators and others can all be involved in special events like International Walk to School Day and ongoing activities like walking school buses. Encouragement strategies can often be started relatively easily with little cost and a focus on fun.

Enforcement
Enforcement activities can help to change unsafe behaviors of drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. They can increase driver awareness of laws, and they also can improve driver behavior by reducing speeds and increasing yielding to pedestrians. In addition, enforcement activities teach pedestrians and bicyclists to walk and bicycle safely and to pay attention to their environment. Enforcement doesn’t just involve law enforcement. Many different community members take part in making sure everyone follows the rules, including students, parents, school personnel and adult school crossing guards. In addition, the role of the law enforcement officers often goes beyond enforcement and can be included in all strategies of the SRTS program.

Engineering
Engineering addresses the built environment with tools that can be used to create safe places to walk or bicycle and can also influence the way people behave. Transportation engineers, city planners and architects use methods to create safer settings for walking and bicycling while recognizing that a roadway needs to safely accommodate all modes of transportation. Such improvements can include maintenance and operational measures as well as construction projects with a range of costs. When such programs are properly implemented, they may not only improve safety for children, but they also may encourage more walking and bicycling by the general public.

More great information from National Center for Safe Routes to School:
http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/guide/index.cfm