How to use your regional SRTS coordinator to promote walking and biking to schools

In celebration of NJ Bike to Walk Week (sorry, no link) we bring to you this very well produced video that was recent featured on the NJ SRTS Resource Center, Safe Routes Scoop Blog. The video produced by Ridewise of Somerset County demonstrates how a Transportation Management Association (TMA) can assist a local community put together a successful SRTS program.  There are ideas for activities, programs, setting up walking routes and more.  Give it a look.  You may also want to share this with your local PTA and/or the general parent population of your school district.

Enjoy!

VTC announces new Safe Routes Scoop

Below is copy of the announcement released earlier today from the folks at the Voorhees Transportation Center regarding the latest edition of the Safe Routes Scoop.  This edition has some excellent information regarding engineering practices that effect all types of bike and pedestrians projects and not just those that directly involve Safe Routes to School projects. As such it's a must read for all bike/ped advocates particularly those just starting out. - Ed.

The latest issue of the Safe Routes Scoop is now available. Read the newsletter at:

http://policy.rutgers.edu/VTC/bikeped/Safe_Routes_Scoop/Vol4_Issue2/index.html

The Safe Routes Scoop, a newsletter for the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, will keep you informed about SRTS news, events, local programs, and available resources. Use this newsletter to promote SRTS and to update your members and partners on projects and opportunities.

If you want to provide feedback on this issue of Safe Routes Scoop or if you know of a Safe Routes to School program or a Safe Routes to School champion you would like to tell us about, please click the "Do You Like This Newsletter" link at the top of the Safe Routes Scoop home page.

Feel free to forward this newsletter to other interested parties.

To receive an email notice about future issues or to be added to our NJ Safe Routes to Schoolsrts@rci.rutgers.edu and ask to be added to the subscriber list. listserv, please email your request to
Questions or comments? Contact us at srts@rci.rutgers.edu or visit http://policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/srts

Sorry for any cross-posting.

Thank you!

New Jersey Safe Routes to School Resource Center
Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers University
33 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Telephone: (732) 932-6812
Fax: (732) 932-3714
Visit the New Jersey Safe Routes to School Resource Center at http://policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/srts

Edgewater Park Bike Crash Brings Safe Routes To School Close To Home

This morning on the last day of school A first grader riding his bike to the Magowan Elementary School in Edgewater Park, Burlington County suffered from minor injuries when he was struck by a car on Cherrix St shortly after 8:30AM just a couple of hundred feet from the school entrance.

I have reported on lots of bicycle crashes but this was different for me. 10 minutes after I put my 5 year old on the school bus I saw a rescue squad ambulance racing towards the school, which sent a fearful pang that a worried parent sometimes feels. But I had to bike to the school anyway to drop off some paperwork which eased that feeling.

But then I turned left towards the school I found out why the ambulance blew by. I saw a school bus a Chevy Suburban, several patrol cars and a gathering of people but it was the two bikes on the ground that told the story, a child on a bike was struck.

That bad feeling came back.












A raised crosswalk on Cherrix Street in front of Magowan the crash occurred at another raised crosswalk just a few feet behind from where this picture was taken.

The crash took place at a raised crosswalk, installed several years ago as part of the Burlington County Safe Routes to School initiative. As I rode by the scene I overheard the driver of a large black Chevy Suburban talking to police state - "I didn't see him". Not knowing the circumstances of the crash, I can only speculate that traffic calming may have prevented a much more serious crash. If that's the case then it's money well spent

Perhaps I am most proud of the way that the Principal Betsy Miles explained the story in a memo sent home - "Although this incident was an accident, it certainly shines a bright light on bike safety...On the back of this letter are some basic tips to start your conversation...Have a fun safe summer."

I really expected some negative results, bike to school crashes in small school districts have led to bike bans in places such as Collingswood. But Ms. Miles and her staff should be commended for generating a reasonable response and for seizing a teaching moment. Hopefully the school board will display the same clarity and look at programs to make bicycling to school safer without resorting to a ban on riding bikes to school.

New issue of NJ Safe Routes Scoop available

The latest issue of the NJ Walks and Bikes newsletter is now available online at:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/VTC/bikeped/Safe_Routes_Scoop/Vol3_Issue2/


Like the NJ Walks and Bikes newsletter the Safe Routes Scoop is produced by the NJDOT through the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University.

While packed full of good information, those interested in wakling and bicycle policies may want to pay particular attention to the following articles:

Encouraging Walking and Bicycling through School Policies
Complete Streets in Montclair
New Jersey Department of Transportation Adopts a Complete Streets Policy
Resource Spotlight: Operation Lifesaver

For those of you who may be wondering what NJDOT is doing to make bicycling and walking safer, this is an excellent source to find out more. Also don't forget the back issues of the NJ Walks & Bikes Newsletter and the Safe Routes Scoop!

Interesting Statute of the Month - No Highway Off-ramps Near Schools

UPDATE! (2/2/10) - Zoe at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign commented below that this law is referred to as the "Terrell James' Law." I was curious about that and pulled up what I believe is the final bill language that created the statute below.

According to a NJDOT Press Release from February 7, 2006, the "Terrell James' Law" was (would be) named "in memory of an 8-year-old who was killed in a tragic 1997 accident that occurred on a Newark playground located between two highway ramps."
__________________________________________________________________

I was doing some research again and I came across this interesting little tidbit. The law is only a little more than two years old but it is an interesting bit of legislation particularly for you folks concerned about Safe Routes to School issues. Also, if you follow the link below there is a bit more to this legislation than this one statute.

27:7-44.12 New entry or exit ramp, construction within 1,000 feet of school; prohibited; exceptions.

4. a. A new entry or exit ramp shall not be constructed as part of a highway project if a school is located or is being constructed within 1,000 feet of the proposed location of the entry or exit ramp, unless, during the planning and design of the project, the department determines that the construction is required and that there is no feasible or prudent alternative.

b.Prior to making the determination required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the department shall, as part of its community outreach efforts to identify a preferred alternative design for the highway project, notify the local board of education in whose district the school is located or being constructed, and in the case of a school being constructed by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the authority, or in the case of a nonpublic school, the board thereof, the Department of Education and the members of the Legislature representing the district in which the school is located or being constructed, that the department is considering the construction of an entry or exit ramp within 1,000 feet of the school. The preferred alternative design for the highway project shall not be selected until the members of the Legislature notified pursuant to this subsection have been afforded the opportunity to submit comments to the department. If the department subsequently determines that the construction of the entry or exit ramp is required and that there is no feasible or prudent alternative, pedestrian safety issues shall be included as part of the environmental review undertaken by the department pursuant to State and federal laws, rules and regulations. When the public forum is held as part of the environmental review of the proposed highway project, the department shall present its plan for any entry or exit ramp and the safety measures, consistent with the recommendations of the study required pursuant to section 7 of this act, that are to be included in the highway project.

c.An entry or exit ramp for a highway shall not be reconstructed if a school is located or being constructed within 1,000 feet of the location of the ramp unless the department shall take steps to minimize the public safety hazards of the reconstructed ramp, consistent with the recommendations contained in the study required pursuant to section 7 of this act.

L.2007, c.308, s.4.

Opinion: Allentown NJ - Hotbed of dangerous traffic, bullying, sexual harassment and criminal activities?!?!

Believable it or not, we are talking about courtesy busing to school.

Last week there was a good article in a locally distributed weekly paper called the Examiner, which covers the bucolic rural towns in far western Monmouth County. The article discussed what Upper Freehold Township is trying to do to eliminate unnecessary courtesy busing in and around the village of Allentown. In the past ten years or so a number of sprawling developments have popped up around the idyllic farm town but within very close proximity to the local schools that are with easy walking distance of Main St. Accordingly the town is looking to install sidewalks and paths to better connect these developments and the town so that local children can walk and ride bikes to school.

While these sidewalks and paths should have been built when the developments went in, it is highly commendable that the local township with the board of ed is now trying to do the right thing. By spending money upfront on sidewalk infrastructure they can avoid continuously dumping it into endless payments for unnecessary busing particularly when the kids live so close to their schools.

In 2010, Upper Freehold predicts it will spend close to $100,000 on courtesy busing. That amount could build quite a bit of sidewalk.

View Larger Map
Allentown, NJ. Rockwellian, small-town America or hotbed of crime, dangerous traffic and sexual lewdness?

However, if you read further down towards the last two paragraphs of the article you will see that some parents have already objected to the possibility of eliminating of courtesy busing. In their objection they cite that their children will be forced "to walk through dangerous intersections in downtown Allentown" and "that sidewalks would be dangerous because they are potential places for bullying, sexual harassment and criminal activities."

When I read that statement my jaw hit the floor. I'm very familiar with Allentown. It is one of the most peaceful and quaint small towns in all of New Jersey. One couldn't hope to live in a more perfect rural setting. The historic Main St is still the hub of local commerce and there isn't a strip mall within miles. Sidewalks are plentiful within the old town and local police make sure that NO ONE exceeds the posted 25mph downtown. I couldn't imagine a more perfect and safe place in New Jersey to raise a child and let them roam around and live an active childhood like that I enjoyed when I was a kid.

View Larger Map
Shaded, historic Main St, Allentown, NJ.

I know that the parents out there will say that since I'm not a parent I can't begin to understand and that things are "different" since when I was a kid (yeah, back in the 1970's every parent exposed their kids to second hand smoke, people drove drunk without penalty and lead was in the gasoline, so life has got to be more dangerous today - hint, sarcasm). However, I beg to differ. I believe that the fear that parents have for their childrens' safety is far beyond rational and has become all-out, unhealthy paranoia and it takes a childless person to point that out.

Red Bank residents start "Safe Routes" Group

From their website:

Our group encompasses a wide range of interests (bike commuters, residents who walk/shop downtown, fitness cyclists, etc.). While there are many facets of pedestrian and cyclist safety, we are first organizing around getting safe routes to schools for Red Bank's kids. Via NJDOT grant funding available through the national Safe Routes to Schools program, we believe that we can achieve a signed network of safe routes that connect the west side of Red Bank to the east side. This safe flow of pedestrian and cyclist traffic is important on many levels, not the least of which is that it would allow most any kid in Red Bank to get to most any school.

View Safe Routes to School in a larger map

And according to a press release they had their first organizational meeting on Wednesday, October 21.

The formation of Red Bank Safe Routes is a reaffirmation to us at WalkBikeJersey of the pent up demand New Jersey residents have for wanting to live in communities where they, their children and elderly can safely walk and bike. Places like Red Bank were planned to be compact walkable communities where the car was a luxury and not a necessity. Fortunately for us, New Jersey has many places like Red Bank, built before the needs of the automobile dominated the way the American landscape would be developed. Like those residents in Red Bank and elsewhere throughout or state, all we need to do is just reclaim a little of that roadway space (much of it wasted anyway) back from the automobile.

Best of luck Red Bank Safe Routes!