What make a good regional transportation plan?

This question has become a complicated one in recent years as a new legislative mandate requires that the regional bodies responsible for creating these plans, plans which decide the funding direction for large parts of the state, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and again by 2035.  We’ve already seen how a plan hailed for its progressiveness upon passage by the San Diego Association of Governments now finds itself in court, with the state’s attorney siding with the plaintiffs.

The current round of regional plans will direct funding until 2050 and are the first ones passed since the passage of the state’s greenhouse gas reduction law in 2008.

Soon the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) will have its chance to finalize a regional plan.  An important step in that process will happen later this morning, when SCAG’s Transportation Committee meets to discuss the plan for the last time before it’s 83 member board of directors votes on the plan next month.  Rarely does SCAG meetings or plans attract as much attention, but, spurred by the Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership, Move L.A. and local groups such as VC Cool, hundreds of people have commented on the plan either asking for greater investment in transit, or active transportation.

This has led to two camps forming within transportation reformers.  On one hand, Move L.A. is praising the plan with few conditions.  An op/ed by Move L.A.’s Gloria Ohland (also a Streetsblog contributor) lays out the positives of the plan.  Ohland’s full piece appears at the end of this article:

The broad interest in charting a new direction in community and transportation planning has resulted in a remarkable $530 billion regional plan that enhances the region’s economic future and jobs growth by reducing traffic congestion despite a projected growth in population of 4 million residents. It locates 87 percent of all jobs and 82 percent of all housing within a half mile of transit, and more than triples funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

The plan promises to yield a $3,000 annual savings to each household because of lower auto, fuel, water and energy costs, and a 24 percent reduction in pollution-caused respiratory problems, resulting in a $1.5 billion/year less in health care costs. The plan envisions future revenue sources including the substitution of a fee on vehicle miles traveled, a “VMT fee,” for the current gas tax.

Meanwhile, the Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership with its allies, including Ventura County’s VCCOOL, who is responsible for the above video, continue to press for more funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. A recent report by the L.A. County Department of public health estimated a $40 billion need to make the six county SCAG region a safe and attractive place for people to walk and bike. Funding for these projects in the transportation plan that stretches to 2050 is less than $2 billion.

But it’s not just a lack of funding that worries the partnership, it’s the lack of a long-term vision to create safe streets for all road users, especially those without cars. The coalition for transportation options also wants SCAG to increase funding for implementing a complete streets policy, creating a Safe Routes to Schools strategy and funding an effort to solicit and earn larger grants to make streets safer.

One of the many groups that are working with the Partnership is VCCool, a small Ventura County based non-profit who has used video and public presentations to make the case that investing in transit, but not bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, is creating an unbalanced transportation system that can be inherently unsafe.  You can see their most recent video above, and download their presentation by clicking here.

At this point, it seems unlikely that any major changes will happen to the SCAG plan, which means the question posited at the top of this post could be decided in court, just as it will in San Diego.

While Congress Fiddles, Southern California Shows How to Get Things Done

–Gloria Ohland, Move L.A.

When a delegation from the LA Chamber of Commerce visited Congress earlier this month to lobby for passage of the federal surface transportation reauthorization, members were greeted warmly by federal transportation officials who noted that LA was providing a model for Congress on how to get things done.

“You check your politics at the door,” said US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who with US Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Federal Transit Administration head Peter Rogoff, complimented the chamber delegation on the bold and broad business-labor-environmental coalition that is supporting massive investment in LA’s public transportation system.

Congress has bogged down in partisan and ideological brinksmanship over the transportation reauthorization—and many other issues—so often during the past four years that the federal transportation bill will have to be extended for the ninth time when the current extension runs out March 31. While the Senate approved its bipartisan version of the bill this week under the leadership of Senator Boxer and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had to abandon his bill, which linked infrastructure programs with domestic oil production.

The lack of a federal bill means states haven’t had the funding assurances they need to begin major multi-year infrastructure projects that could provide hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs to American workers.

While the grand coalition that championed the Measure R sales tax for transportation in LA County in 2008 is one example of how to get things done in a bipartisan manner, another perhaps even grander example of how cooperation, community and bipartisanship can yield impressive results is currently underway in Southern California.

Every four years the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) adopts a 25-year regional transportation plan (RTP) that has to “meet conformity” with the federal Clean Air Act in order for the six-county region to continue to receive federal transportation funding. During this planning cycle the RTP was for the first time paired with a “sustainable communities strategy”(SCS)—mandated by the state’s new GHG reduction law, SB 375—that lays out a plan to reduce GHGs by reducing driving.

The public rarely shows up at SCAG, an agency governed by a bipartisan 83-member Regional Council, but the SCS has drawn hundreds of people into SCAG’s planning process. Meetings have been crowded with advocates demanding more transit, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements and more affordable housing choices, and doctors and academics testifying that in order to deal with the health and obesity crisis the region needs to create “active environments”—because auto-oriented communities have literally engineered physical activity out of our lives.

The broad interest in charting a new direction in community and transportation planning has resulted in a remarkable $530 billion regional plan that enhances the region’s economic future and jobs growth by reducing traffic congestion despite a projected growth in population of 4 million residents. It locates 87 percent of all jobs and 82 percent of all housing within a half mile of transit, and more than triples funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

The plan promises to yield a $3,000 annual savings to each household because of lower auto, fuel, water and energy costs, and a 24 percent reduction in pollution-caused respiratory problems, resulting in a $1.5 billion/year less in health care costs. The plan envisions future revenue sources including the substitution of a fee on vehicle miles traveled, a “VMT fee,” for the current gas tax.

There seems to be general agreement across the region that our single-minded focus on building single-family residential neighborhoods connected by highways has reached the point of diminishing returns. Demographic changes—a majority of single-person households and a rapidly aging population—and rising gas prices are causing Southern Californians to demand a wider range of housing and transportation choices.

LA County voters demonstrated this when they passed the Measure R sales tax in 2008 to provide $40 billion for transportation—$30 billion of it for transit—by almost 70 percent. The Measure R investment together with the bike and pedestrian improvements and the increase in jobs and housing near stations is responsible for much of the GHG reductions in the RTP/SCS. And in the final run-up to plan adoption, SCAG staff may be recommending even more funding for transit, bike and pedestrian projects.

Prior to passing the transportation bill in the US Senate, Senator Inhofe said he’s always believed “conservatives should be big in two areas: national defense and infrastructure.” We can only hope that the spirit of collaboration and bipartisanship evidenced both in the US Senate and in Southern California—and the acknowledgment that transportation investments and the jobs they create are critical—will inspire the US House of Representatives to move forward.

This picture was taken blocks from Tuesday's tragic crash. Where oh where would students get the idea that it is ok to walk in the street? Photos: Stephen Box Captions:Damien Newton

This past Tuesday, early in the afternoon, 11-year-old twin sisters Sydney and Alexis left Walter Reed Middle School and began to walk home, a trip that ended at Colfax Avenue and Moorpark Street when they were hit by a car as they attempted to cross the street.

By all rights, it was a tragic afternoon for everybody.

For the young girls, it was a tragedy that began when they were violently propelled into the air, hit so hard they were knocked out of their shoes. They landed in a bone breaking heap, one unconscious and the other screaming in pain, and were quickly transported to Children’s Hospital where one still lies in critical condition.

For the 82-year-old motorist, it was a tragedy that will forever haunt her, regardless of rules of the road or outcome of the LAPD investigation, forever lingering as “that moment” when time stood still. This motorist will be haunted by the image of two young girls flying through the air and lying broken in the street.

For the school children who witnessed the collision, it was a tragedy that required instant intervention from parents and school administrators. Their lives were disrupted, they were confronted with mortality, they were shocked by the fragility of life, and they were confronted by the primacy of motor vehicles.

For the parents of local school children, it was a tragedy that destroyed their hopes and dreams of living in a walkable, livable community. It was confirmation that their children aren’t safe on the streets in the immediate vicinity of their local middle school.

For the Firemen who raced to the scene, it was a tragedy that is all too common, picking up bodies from the streets of Los Angeles after a traffic collision. It must eat at their soul and the Daily News picture from the scene of a policeman consoling a fireman is evidence of the toll traffic takes on our First Responders.

For the Police Officers who are left to investigate, it was a tragedy that can’t be resolved by determining fault, assigning blame, or releasing a report. Even the LAPD experiences an average of one traffic collision per day, brutal confirmation that the streets of LA are unsafe at any speed.

It was not only a tragedy, it was a moment of revelation, one that saw conflicting paradigms of transportation collide with mythologies of crosswalks and jaywalking in a clear demonstration of our collective need to get in sync with how we expect our neighborhoods to work.

In the immediate aftermath, comments from the LAPD, from the witnesses, and from the community revealed a wide variety of attitudes and opinions of the law, transportation theory, and the rules of the road.

First; when conflicting accounts referred to the girls walking in the crosswalk and walking outside of the crosswalk, both an LAPD Watch Commander and an LAPD Public Information Officer commented by incorrectly defining “Jaywalking” as crossing the street outside the crosswalk.

Another picture a couple of blocks from the girls' school. A complete lack of infrastructure for pedestrians teaches pedestrians to do the best they can to stay safe.

The only time pedestrians are prohibited from crossing the street outside crosswalks is when they are between two traffic signal controlled intersections, a prohibition that does not apply to any of four streets surrounding Walter Reed Middle School. As for the term “Jaywalking” it is slang and no more appropriate than the term “Jaydriving.” In fact, they are both terms of derision and were used years ago in the power struggle between the modes.

Crossing Between Controlled Intersections 21955.  Between adjacent intersections controlled by traffic control signal devices or by police officers, pedestrians shall not cross the roadway at any place except in a crosswalk.

Second; the press release indicates that the young girls crossed the street against the “raised hand” but when a different Watch Commander was asked if it was a solid red or a flashing hand, he replied, “It’s all the same.” Actually, it’s not.

A flashing hand for pedestrians would indicate that the girls were crossing with the flow of traffic and that they could continue to the other side. It would also indicate that the cross traffic didn’t have a green light.

This distinction is important because the LAPD was unable to clear up the simple question, “Was the motorist traveling straight (north on Colfax) through Moorpark, hitting the girls on the far side of the intersection or was it a turning movement, either left or right from Moorpark, north on Colfax.

Third; comments from the community continue to echo the mythology perpetuated by the LADOT which states on its website, “Marked crosswalks give pedestrians a false sense of security.” Traffic Engineers repeat this fallacy as if it is fact. Councilmembers repeat this nonsense to show that they have been listening. Community members reiterate this tragic misunderstanding to show that they are working with the Council office and the LADOT.

The tragic misunderstanding is based on a 1972 study by Bruce Berms who analyzed collision data for streets with crosswalks and for streets with no crosswalks. He concluded his report by posing the question, “Is it possible that marked crosswalks give pedestrians a false sense of security?” Herms then suggested that future research study this and other questions he raised, yet his question has turned into a fact and Herms is more famous for what he didn’t say than for his actual body of work.

One of the "better" streets in the area, but even it has narrow, blocked sidewalks. There also seems to be something in the bike lane on the left.

While the LADOT continues to engage in the removal of crosswalks because “Motorists disregard marked crosswalks where pedestrian crosswalks are light” the LADOT ignores real opportunities to complement the efficacy of crosswalks with any of a number of traffic calming techniques such as Refuge Islands, Shark’s Teeth, Speed Tables, Raised Crosswalks, Chicanes, Bulbouts, Textured Pavement. These are just a few of the traffic control infrastructure solutions that calm traffic and make streets safer for everybody, from motorists to pedestrians to cyclists to transit passengers.

Safe Routes to School will even pay for these improvements if they support the safety of children as they walk and ride to/from school. Yet the LADOT was unable to even come up with a full roster of applications for this year, passing up Walter Reed Middle School in favor of maintaining the status quo and protecting the jobs of LADOT crossing guards. (Curious, there is no guard at the busiest intersection surrounding Walter Reed!)

Fourth; comments from the public indicate shock that children might walk in the street or cross the street outside a crosswalk. “Sacrebleu! Where are these children from that they don’t have the sense to get out of the street?”

Actually, the children in the immediate neighborhood live on streets that have no sidewalks, they live in neighborhoods that require pedestrians to walk in the street. They compete for their space on the street with trash cans, parked cars, and motorists in a hurry to get to the larger streets so they can get somewhere else very fast. They learn to scurry like rabbits in order to survive and when they get hit, the adults express shock, “Where did they learn that?”

Studio City is full of charming neighborhoods with charming front yards and tight little streets that bear witness to the inability of local motorists to stay on the road. Even corner treatments show the wear and tear that comes from motorists taking corners too fast and too furious.

School dropoff.

Fifth; the motor-centric nature of school drop-off zones breeds fast traffic at the expense of pedestrian safety. Walter Reed Middle School has a one-way drop-off/pick-up zone in front of the building. Parents must go 1000’ north on Colfax, 500’ east on Sarah, 1000’ south on Irvine, and 500’ west on Moorpark to complete the commute loop.

In other words, straight streets and a tight schedule work together to create a loop of fast traffic, most of it parents with students. Gone are the days that children can safely walk and ride to school and part of the problem is caused by the parents of children who no longer walk or ride to school. It’s a vicious cycle.

Sixth; in the wake of the tragedy, one would think that the adults in the community, from the LAPD to the LADOT to the School to the parents, would all work together to assess the surrounding streets and to ask “How can we make these streets safer for our children?”

"Where is the enforcement?

South on Colfax Ave there was a FedEx truck parked in the Bike Lane. Where is Traffic Enforcement?

North on Colfax, across from the school, there was a car double parked in the Bike Lane. Where is Traffic Enforcement?

East on Sarah St, there is a Trailer parked as if the streets surrounding the school are an industrial zone. By default, Sarah is an industrial zone and is a favorite place for truckers to park their 18 Wheelers while they nap or their trailers during layovers. Where is Traffic Enforcement?

Finally; this type of incident is not rare or uncommon, and the typical response is to address the vulnerable user with advice on how to be a better behaved victim.

Our streets are engineered for fast traffic, a simple fact that results in housebound seniors who typically outlive their ability to drive by several years, seven years for men and ten years for women. Everybody suffers when our streets are too fast.

Colfax Avenue is currently certified for radar/laser speed limit enforcement, with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour, from Moorpark Street to Victory Boulevard. This certificate will expire on April 13, 2013.

Moorpark Street is currently certified for radar/laser speed enforcement, with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour, from Moorpark Way to Van Nuys Boulevard. This certificate will expire on May 30, 2013.

In both cases the LAPD, in concert with the LADOT, will either seek an extension of the speed zone survey or they will study the traffic and set the new speed limit at the 85 percentile of unimpeded traffic. In other words, the motorists will vote with their gas pedal on the new speed limit.

California’s Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program is accepting grant applications through March 30, 2012 and none were turned in for Walter Reed Middle School. Perhaps it’s time for the  LAPD and the LADOT to spent less time working on speed limit increases and more time pursuing funding applications that would make it safer for kids who walk and ride to school.

• 

  Bicycle Rodeos are a great start, but cyclists (and drivers) need continual education for everyone's sake. This rodeo picture from Glendale last May and via the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

  Unfortunately, most of this experience only teaches us how to use our streets as motorists. Those who roll out of their driveways for the first time on two wheels confront a host of issues they never considered previously:

• How do I turn left at this daunting intersection?
• Why do some motorists try to pass just before stop signs?
• How can I discourage motorists from passing too closely in the same lane?
• And so many more.

The problem is the lack of accessible, informed and comprehensive education regarding the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists. Few of us receive adequate instruction before getting behind the handlebars or the steering wheel and navigating the streets of Los Angeles. Schools rarely offer bicycling courses by certified instructors. Those who teach drivers’ education courses only briefly refer to bicyclists, instead of informing students of bicyclists’equal right to use the road.

To complicate matters, the minimal bicycle education we do receive is often erroneous — especially when it comes from friends and authority figures who lack training and personal experience on a bicycle. Parents, teachers and police officers are wise to teach children to wear helmets, use lights at night, stop at red lights and look “left, right, left” before crossing a street. But counseling a bicyclist to “stay on the sidewalk” or “stay as far to the right as possible” is misguided. Door zones and blind spots are paved with good intentions.

Our first step must be to educate our youth. Because they are eager to learn, children are excellent candidates to learn bicycling basics. Friends, siblings and parents can usually teach steering and braking on their own. But beyond this, the help of a trained bicycle instructor is invaluable.

A bicycle “rodeo” is an effective and engaging way to educate young people. At a rodeo, a certified instructor assists children as they fit helmets, learn hand signals, navigate traffic-cone courses and practice balancing through figure-eights. Any community center that regularly hosts groups of children, such as a school, church, synagogue or youth sports league, can readily organize a rodeo.

When not reinforced on a regular basis, even basic skills can be forgotten quickly. Therefore, it is important that those who are new to bicycling continue to review the basics they’ve learned, such as the importance of obeying traffic signals, traveling on the right side of the road and using helmets and lights.

• Additionally, bicyclists should know the importance of:
• Planning routes to avoid unsafe stretches of road
• Using hand signals
• Taking the lane to discourage unsafe passing
• Making a “box turn” by using crosswalks to turn left at difficult intersections
• Maintaining predictable lane position

As I encounter too often in my practice, even the most prudent bicyclists may be threatened or injured by motorists who do not respect bicyclists’ equal right to the road. After all, helmets cannot shield us from the indignity inflicted by an irate driver’s honking, and hand signals cannot compel an aggressive motorist to yield the right-of-way.

So, effective bicycle education must also include measures to inform motorists of their responsibility to share the road with bicyclists. This means more than a multiple-choice question on an exam. It means additional public outreach, more sharrows painted on streets, and publicized traffic enforcement operations targeting drivers who park in or obstruct bicycle lanes.

In particular, these methods should aim to remind motorists of a couple key points:

• “Taking the lane” is a bicyclist’s way of signaling that the lane is too narrow for a motorist to try to squeeze past. Change lanes to safely pass.
• Bicyclists often travel faster than motorists expect. Exercise great caution before turning into a bicyclist’s path. Do not attempt to pass a bicyclist when approaching stop signs or red lights, or when preparing to turn right.

When motorists and bicyclists disregard their rights and responsibilities, safety and civility on our roads suffer. Proper education, widely accessible to those on two wheels and four, can help everyone understand the needs of other road users.

(The law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP is dedicated to protecting the rights of those who have suffered serious injuries on or off the job. Partner Howard Krepack, an avid bicyclist, leads the firm’s bicycle accident practice. For more information about our firm, call us at 213-739-7000 or visit our website: www.geklaw.com.)

With gas prices reaching nearly five dollars per gallon and university tuitions on the rise, getting to and around school seems to be the easiest way to make a college student go broke fast. Since I plan to pursue a Masters in Public Heath after this year, and an online public health program is not an option for me, I need to save where I can. As a college intern spending my summer conducting public health research at UCLA, I am left with little choice when it comes to my commute each day—either spend too much money on gas and parking, or find an alternative, such as biking, walking, or using public transportation.

UCLA has a walking club that programs the annual I <heart> walking week. Photo:UCLA Today

With Los Angeles’ largely sprawled out development patterns, it is not feasible for me to walk places in a timely manner, and public transportation in my neighborhood is infrequent. The built environment of Los Angeles has made any mode of transportation other than utilizing one’s own vehicle very difficult; most daily commuters are left with only one practical alternative: bicycling. So I began biking the 45-minute commute to work each day, happily saving money and getting daily exercise in a zero-emission fashion. Through my daily journey, I began to notice things I would have never otherwise perceived—the intense warmth of the Southern California summer, the aroma of freshly cut grass on nearby lawns I cycle past, and the many bike racks scattered throughout the city, which I never before knew existed.

While cycling on busy roads such as Sunset Boulevard and Beverly Glen is the fastest route to UCLA, it is far too dangerous with hundreds of cars speeding through each hour. Large potholes forced me to circumnavigate my way into traffic, and the lighting under bridges and overpasses was scarce, making me nearly invisible to rapidly approaching cars. While the road ought to be shared equally, without a designated area for cyclists, I felt as though I was intruding on the cars’ road.

This summer, my friend, Debbie Schrimmer, an avid cyclist and student at the University of California Davis reminded me, “bicycling in itself is not inherently dangerous—it’s when cyclists are forced to interact with cars that it becomes dangerous.” So I searched to find more alternatives to avoid traffic. Luckily for me, side streets were easily accessible from my neighborhood that I am now able to get around the bustling boulevards and whizzing cars and make it to UCLA safely, with only a few “almost accidents”.

But what about the countless other students in large cities who have jobs, internships, and attend classes, and who must commute on a daily basis? Those who do not have access to back roads or public transportation are left with only one choice–to use their cars. Stuck in their own “boxes” each day, each single-rider contributing to daily freeway traffic and air pollution, getting limited exercise, and spending preposterous amounts of money on gasoline. Being in a car for several hours each day robs people of precious time to exercise. Physical inactivity is associated with serious health problems such as coronary heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Meanwhile in DTLA, USC is known as a bike campus, regardless of the wishes of some administrators. For more USC Bike Pictures click here.

In the United States, Federal Programs such as Safe Routes to Schools are becoming more popular as the epidemic of childhood obesity is on the rise. This program helps to promote safe walking and biking to school for children, encouraging them to exercise on a daily basis, and in turn, enhancing their health. But what about university students? Why are programs like this not in place for young adults that also commute each day, and would enjoy cycling to class and throughout their local city or college town?

On university campuses, biking has many advantages. “Broke” college students can save money on gas, car maintenance, and parking, and experience a jolt of energy in the morning as coffee does without having to spend the money on caffeine and gym memberships. Cycling also creates a friendly campus atmosphere, and allows students to become more engaged in their communities instead of being isolated in their cars.

Walking and biking to school should be an important part of a healthy lifestyle, yet many college students are prevented from doing this in part because of barriers in our built environment. Cycling to university campuses can enhance health, reduce traffic congestion around campuses, and help build a greater sense of community. While barriers to biking to school, such as distance and traffic danger, remain and vary by community, these issues can be combated with enough effort. So why is it that those who are trying to do the right thing by exercising daily, lessening air pollution, and helping to relieve traffic congestion are not being rewarded? To get more people cycling, we need safer bike routes and enforced education to cyclists and drivers on proper road sharing protocol. Ultimately, to reform the way that people behave will require reworking the general attitude towards biking – that is, treating cycling as a viable and equal source of transportation and mobility, rather than merely recreation.

How we design our cities and campuses can be a major barrier to safe cycling. “Rather than squeezing in skinny bike lanes as an afterthought into a crowded road, we should be building segregated, off-street bike paths or sidewalks with designated lanes for pedestrians and cyclists,” says Debbie. Many people use such paths in cities in the United States, like Minneapolis, and many countries in Northern Europe. With incredibly low injury rates recorded in these places, why can’t we do the same for university campuses in the United States? The advantage of college towns and campuses is that they are often self-contained communities; everything is close by, which makes things easily accessible by bicycle. Yet, in order for more students to choose bikes over cars, we must invest in improving cycling infrastructure on our campuses and throughout our communities.

As the new school year is right around the corner, I would love to see an increase in cycling on university campuses and university authorities need to promote cycling and cycling education. Many students may not even realize the breadth of benefits they can gain get from cycling to and from class or throughout their college town. If they were made aware of bicycle management and safety beginning in their freshman year, as is the practice of UC Davis, we could see a significant increase in the number of cyclists on college campuses. As a college student, I have a lot to worry about between getting good grades, managing money, and keeping a good social connection amongst my peers. If simple educational classes on biking and accessible pathways for cyclists were implemented, finding enough time in the day to squeeze in exercise would be one less thing to worry about while jugging the busy life of a college student. I hope that many campuses help promote “Safe Routes to Universities” to enhance the health and well-being of students, communities, and our planet.

John M, Liechty Middle School. It doesn't look like a great place to walk to...yet...

What do you do when the main barrier to encouraging more students to walk and bicycle to school isn’t social pressures or broken infrastructure, but a different sort of public safety hazard?  What do you do when it’s not motorists, but gangs that imperil children who want to walk or bike to school?

If you work with the Advancement Project, and you’re working in South Los Angeles’ Westlake Neighborhood and Belmont Community, you get the community involved, you get the police involved, and you make a plan.

Working with 21 different community groups, advocacy groups and government organizations, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the Advancement Project worked to create a map that showed what challenges face students walking to school and create a safe corridors program to address those needs.

“Our role has been to coordinate the amazing assets, programs and services already existing in the community,” explains Maribel Meza, a policy advocate with the advancement project.  ”It has been a grassroots, community driven effort.”

The first step of the project was to complete basic outreach to partners and communities to identify three areas to work on as part of the Project’s efforts in Westlake.  Two of those programs had to do with creating safe passages for children to walk or bike to school and other places of interest.  Next, meetings were held with all the stakeholders, including students and their parents, to create a mapping analysis.  The mapping analysis created showed results that you probably wouldn’t see in Santa Monica, identifying not just places where students would be imperiled by poor urban design but also gang recruiters or even angry alcoholics.

Meanwhile, the LAPD, parents, and gang interventionists and parents agreed to patrols on the most problematic routes for student travelers.  Areas that had the highest risk would be patrolled by the LAPD, while areas of lesser but still significant challenge would be patrolled by volunteer parents before and after school.

With the routes selected and parents on board, the program will launch later this month when the school year begins.

The aforementioned coalition began work on a Safe Routes to Schools grant for John M. Liechty Middle School to bring a strong pedestrian infrastructure to the area, including better street lighting, sidewalks and road crossings.  The lighting is especially important for students taking part in after school programs who often find themselves traveling home in the dark.  If selected by Caltrans, it would bring $1 million to the area to improve connections to the school.

Meza believes that the community outreach and safe passages plan makes the grant proposal much stronger.  “With the work of the collaborative we had a much stronger application with this City transportation grant that would bring street lights, road bumps and other environmental improvements around the school.”

To expand their program, the Advancement Project has appealed to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, arguing that the lack of access to schools creates a public health and obesity crisis.  Kosed notes that,  “Studies have shown that when students are scared in their neighborhood or walk to school it creates a public health problem.”

In addition the lack of access creates problems for student learning.  The Belmont area has a program where students can choose their high school based on their interests.  One school specializes in teaching students science, and another focuses on the arts.  However, that diversity is underutilized when physical, safety and mental barriers keep students from traveling to the high school where they would be best served.

If awarded, the Robert Wood Johnson grant would invest $200,000 in the Project’s efforts, a significant out-of-state investment for South L.A.  The grant is designed to reward innovative community-based projects and based on the work going on in this South L.A. community; there are few if any communities in Southern California working as hard to make their streets safe as this one is.

In the fall of 2007, a pair of high school students in Santa Monica High School (Samohi), decided to organize their own Bike to School Day.  Somewhere between 80 and 100 high school students took part that first year, which is a respectable number for a student-run event with no budget, but nobody could have0for seen what’s happened since.

To see last spring's flyer in English and Spanish, click here.

In 2008, the event doubled in size.  In 2009, so many students walked or biked to school, that the school’s bike racks were overflowing not just on what was then called Bike It! day, but everyday and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District vowed better bike facilities.  In 2010, Bike It spread to schools throughout Santa Monica and in June the event (the event is held twice annually in the Fall and Spring) had over 3,300 students from thirteen different schools around Santa Monica.

“Since 2007 it’s grown into a bigger success with just about half of the school participating,” explains Charlotte Biren, co-president of the Samohi Solar Alliance, a super-group that is responsible for solar panels warming the school pool and for programming Bike It! .  “We’ve also expanded the program into walking, and taking the bus.”

Santa Monica doesn’t have a school bus program, increasing the pressure on parents to drive students to schools, so a Bike to School Day is an important exercise to show parents, and students, what is possible.

“Simply put, the goal is to get people out of their cars,” adds Jenna Perelman,  the other Solar Alliance co-president.

100 students is good enough to get the attention of the local school board.  3,300 is enough to get the attention of the President.  This summer, the Office of President Barack Obama awarded Biren and Perelman an Official Presidential Commendation for their work programming Bike It!

The story of Bike It! shows what can happen when a group of people take a great idea, a Bike to School Day for their High School, and helped spread it to other local high schools, middle schools and even grade schools.  Both Birren and Perelman made personal appearances to talk to students and administrators about the value of bicycling, walking or taking transit to school.  While the younger schools obviously needed the full buy in of staff to organize the event, at the high school level most of the burden falls on the students, who are eager to take up the challenge.

“Two years ago, we were most concerned about growing the numbers at Santa Monica High School.  When we achieved that, we thought about expanding the numbers throughout the district and community,” Biren writes.

So what is Bike It Day?  Simply, it’s a day when students receive extra encouragement to arrive at school without using a car.  Bike, walk, take transit, it doesn’t matter.  At Samohi, extra racks are brought in, variable message signs provide encouragement, part of the streets connecting the school receive temporary bike lanes and a special breakfast is provided.  There is some schwag provided to students, but the biggest incentive to ride is that it’s cool to bike to school, well cooler than usual, to bike to school on Bike It Day.

Sometimes even a small change can have a large impact, Richard McKinnon, a parent of a graduated Samohi student and the Chair of Bike It across the district, spends countless hours working with students to help Bike It to be a success and grow.  Standing with Biren, Perelman and myself next to the bike racks at Samohi, he modeled some small bicycle pins they hand out to teachers so they can show their support.  The students apparently go wild for them.

Bike It Day doesn’t have to be the same at every school in the district,in fact it’s common for schools in the same area to have different days to Bike It.  September 21 is the Samohi Bike It!  The two middle schools local to Samohi, Lincoln and John Adams, have tentative dates for October 5th and October 7th respectively.

But neither Biren nor Perelman are content with the status quo for Bike It.

Perelman says the next step is showing students that their choices can make a difference.  ”Now we’re focused on educating students across the district on climate change and what they can do to help. Biking or walking to school is a simple change that anyone can make.”

So does it make a difference?  Does one Bike It Day a semester change people’s attitudes and commute habits?  It did for Perelman and Biren.  Biren’s brother and Perelman herself both changed their commutes after taking a day to Bike It.

Councilman Richard Alarcon and Safe Moves host a Safe Routes Rodeo on Monday. Photo: Richard Alarcon

Next time you pass by one of our community’s schools, take a look at the surrounding streets and one sobering realization will strike you: the streets around our schools are unsafe.  You’ll probably witness students hurrying across five- or six-lane roads, only to reach sidewalks where they must dodge cars whipping into the school parking lot.

Or you’ll see deserted sidewalks and lines of cars driven by parents rightfully ambivalent about letting their children walk or bike to school.

These conditions are the result of decades of car-centric planning that have made our streets unsafe for walking and bicycling and restricted our choices of transportation.

It is no wonder, given the hazards children confront while walking or biking to school, that only 15 percent of children who live within a two-mile radius of their school walk or bike there.  Thirty years ago, that figure was 60 percent.  Students going to school in disadvantaged communities face the most hazardous conditions. At the same time, one in five children is now considered overweight or obese.

Our community and our children deserve better.

The Safe Routes to School program, along with local non-profits, is working to change these conditions.  Funded by national and state set-asides, the program’s goal is to make walking and biking to schools safer, giving children and their parents a safe and healthy transportation alternative.

Infrastructure improvements are desperately needed to enhance walking and biking safety.  Crosswalks on streets with heavy or fast-moving traffic can make students more visible.  Widening a bicycle lane near a high school or extending it to connect with the school would also improve safety.  And for students who choose to bicycle on sidewalks, a lack of curb ramps near their school could force them to enter the road at driveways to avoid the curb.  Safe Routes to School funding is crucial to addressing these infrastructure deficits.

Such funding also enables schools to educate children and parents about safe walking and biking practices.  For example, schools can produce maps of safe routes near the school, or instruct students to walk their bikes across busy streets.  By teaching safe practices from an early age, these programs provide children with skills they will use their entire lives.

This year, Safe Routes to School plans to improve safety at more than a dozen schools in and around Los Angeles.  These improvements are a crucial first step to paving the way to a brighter future where our children can safely enjoy healthy, active lifestyles.

(The law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP is dedicated to protecting the rights of those who have suffered serious injuries on or off the job. Partner Howard Krepack, an avid bicyclist, leads the firm’s bicycle accident practice. For more information about our firm, call us at 213-739-7000 or visit our website: www.geklaw.com.)

However, at least two members in the room were clearly in opposition.  Councilman Paul Koretz and Councilman Bill Rosendahl joined Councilman Dennis Zine, who was not present, in speaking out against the cameras.  Koretz read a list of studies done by other cities on the benefits of their red light programs, all of which found the program lacking.

“Red light cameras make no sense for the City of Los Angeles, currently,” he concluded.

Oddly, he did not mention his own city’s study, which found a reduction of 62% in crashes at intersections where the cameras were implemented.  While 200 cyclists and pedestrians have been killed in car crashes since the cameras were instituted throughout the city, none of them were killed in intersections with the lights.  He also didn’t mention that the Federal Highway Administration have found that crashes are reduced at intersections with red light cameras.

Rosendahl conducted a lengthy interview with Rhodes Rigby, the Mayor of Loma Linda.  Loma Linda is a city of 22,000 people and had once installed four red light cameras.  Four years into the project, they pulled them out after one camera was bringing thousands of tickets for people illegally turning right on red lights without stopping.  Apparently Loma Linda’s experience is a perfect counterpart to the City of Los Angeles which has over four million people and installed 32 red light cameras.

Rigby and Rosendahl both believe that illegally turning right at a red light without stopping isn’t a major issue.  Rigby even stated that “few crashes and fewer injuries” are caused by these crashes.

Since I know the Councilman’s staff reads Streetsblog, let’s say it again, with links:

When the Federal Highway Administration discusses the conflict between pedestrians and automobiles it ranks “right on red” as the top concern.  A look at crash fatality statistics nationwide shows that in Los Angeles, almost one quarter of all crash fatalities are pedestrians.

Which is not to say the cameras didn’t have its share of support in the Council.  In addition to Alarcon and Parks, Councilmen Jose Huizar and Richard Alarcon both spoke in favor of the motion to continue the program.  Alarcon noted that the issue is personal for him and that, “There is a culture we need to change in Los Angeles, and in particular in the San Fernando Valley.”

The Council is expected to vote on this issue next Tuesday.  Before the Council debate began a group of speakers that included public health and public safety officials spoke in favor of keeping the lights while a coalition of neighborhood activists and one technology expert spoke against.  During one particularly moving part of testimony, when a family showed a picture of their daughter killed by a red light runner at an intersection, Council Woman Jan Perry, who was chairing the meeting allowed them to speak well over their allotted time.

Kids biking to school in Illinois. Photo courtesy of Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

This week, 12 Democratic Senators introduced a bill to maintain current funding for Safe Routes to School at $183 million and keep it as a standalone program.

Those seem like reasonable goals, but even they will be a haul. The next reauthorization, as we’ve been amply warned, may be even smaller than the last one, given low revenues. And everyone from the administration on down is in favor of consolidating programs, meaning Safe Routes to School would be one piece of a much bigger pie called “Livability.”

It’s also telling that the Partnership couldn’t get a single Republican co-sponsor on the bill. Last time around, they had three. But this time, with everything getting cut, GOP lawmakers were reluctant to “play favorites” and recommend one program for sustained funding. And with the reauthorization process well underway, the Partnership didn’t want to wait any longer to try to attract GOP sponsors. They moved the bill forward with Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) taking the lead.

Safe Routes to School pulls communities together to identify trouble spots that prevent parents from feeling safe letting their kids walk or bike to school. Sometimes it means building or widening a sidewalk. Sometimes parents create “walking school buses,” where an adult accompanies a whole gaggle of kids on their walk. Sometimes it means raising crosswalks or calming traffic or installing flashing School Zone signs. In communities where crime or harassment is the biggest deterrent, SRTS works with police to address personal safety.

In some communities, Pedroso acknowledges, walking to school just isn’t an option. So the new bill allows for 10 percent of SRTS funds to be spent on safe routes to bus stops. “In really, really rural communities where kids live miles and miles from school, they’re not going to be able to walk or bike to school,” said Pedroso. “What they’re often struggling with is safety getting to the bus. And they may be walking on these county roads where there are no shoulders, no lighting, they’re right up against the tree line, and there’s really not a safe place for them.”

SRTS currently only applies to grades K through 8, but the Partnership aims to change that. Included in the Senate bill is language to expand limited eligibility to high schools, but only in partnership with an elementary or middle school. “In many communities, the high school and the junior high are built very close together,” said Pedroso. “So if you’re putting in a mile of sidewalk, for example, to a junior high and the high school is just a quarter mile away, it makes sense to do that extra quarter mile because you can serve a larger group of kids.”

Photo courtesy of Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

In the last Congress, the bill would have simply expanded eligibility to include high schools without limitations.

One inclusion in the bill that’s sure to please many Republicans who have been looking to trim spending and reduce project delays is a provision to address “regulatory burden.” Indeed, Pedroso says, despite the categorical exclusion for bike and pedestrian projects from the mandate for environmental review, many times SRTS projects had to go through many bureaucratic hurdles for even the smallest of projects.

The language that created Safe Routes to School stipulated that SRTS projects be treated like federal aid highways, forced to meet the highest review standards. “These regulations were designed with large-scale, complicated construction projects in mind,” said Pedroso. “When you’re applying them to a couple-hundred-thousand-dollar sidewalk project that’s usually within the right-of-way of an existing road, that’s a lot of paperwork, and for the size of the grant, a big percentage of that is being spent on regulatory compliance.”

States were making project recipients prove they were exempt from environmental review. AASHTO is producing a best-practices guide for states to implement SRTS projects. “It would help to have clarification that for non-infrastructure projects you don’t have to fill out construction paperwork. That actually does happen. You get a $5,000 bicycle and pedestrian safety education grant and you’re filling out construction paperwork for it.”

The bill is technically a proposal to amend SAFETEA-LU, but since SAFETEA-LU is at the end of its life span, it will be considered as part of the reauthorization debate for the whole surface transportation program. It’s been referred to the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Richard Alarcon and Telfair Elementary School children try out the new Smart Crosswalk in 2007.

“We’re in the same place with pedestrian planning that we were on bicycle planning 15 years ago, and that’s nowhere.”  With that strong opening statement, Bill Rosendahl kicked off discussion of a proposal that the city create a data-driven plan for Los Angeles’ Safe Streets to Schools Program.

For those not familiar, the city applies for funds from the state and federal government to make it safe and attractive for children to walk and bike to school.  For years, the program has underperformed, netting around half the dollars it would expect based on population.  Advocates have pointed to lackluster applications and a politically driven process to create the applications as reasons for Los Angeles’ mediocre showing.  With the creation of a Safe Routes to School’s “Master Plan” over the next two years, funded by Measure R dollars, that could finally change.

In addition to a unanimous vote from the three present Council Members, the study received the endorsement of L.A. Walks, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Transportation 4 America, Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic and the Sierra Club.

After the vote, Councilman Richard Alarcon took the floor to respond to some comments about how easy it is for students to walk or bike to school that, in his mind, seemed to blame parents.  We should note that Alarcon lost his three year old son to a car crash over two decades ago, and has a three year old daughter right now.  Knowing how much I worry about my son’s safety when he’s in my bike, I can only imagine how Alarcon feels every time his daughter travels anywhere.

“When I was a kid I spent a lot of time on my bicycle, because my parents were divorced and they lived three miles apart,” Alarcon began. “I wouldn’t have my kid do what I did 40 years ago.  It’s just not safe, and we’re not ready.”

In addition to this Safe Routes to School Plan, Alarcon called for more safety training, more investment in infrastructure and more education of drives.  However, he also found a carte-blanch call for more parents to send their kids to school via bicycle a dangerous one.

“Three kids, with parental supervision, can’t cross the street without being killed,” Alarcon continued, referencing the February 11th death of Maria Pena in a hit and run crash. “We shouldn’t suggest to parents that they should put their kids on their bike to get to school.”  Instead, he continued, we should encourage parents to investigate different routes to schools, and decide for themselves what works best.

Alarcon ended his unusually long statement by calling the Safe Routes Study an “encouragement to do more” and “a chance to ween ourselves a little more off the automobile.”

Alarcon’s statement was emblematic of the challenges Safe Routes to School’s advocates face.  Alarcon has a strong record supporting safe transportation options, especially for school students, yet is still scared to let his own kid walk or bike a half mile to school.  That being said, the Councilman hopes that conditions on the ground change so that he will be comfortable with his daughter walking or biking, “without getting hit by a car or getting driven off the road.”

In other words, the city can plan all the infrastructure they want to, if unsafe driving and road rage are still considered common place, parents will continue to buckle their students into their cars instead of giving them the opportunity to get themselves to the classroom.

The city has a long way to go to make our streets safe for children.  At least now there’s a “plan to make a plan” to figure out how best to do that.

The Council Committee also quickly passed the “anti-harassment ordinance” for cyclists on to the full Council.  The LADOT Bike Blog promises full coverage of that portion of the meeting “coming soon.”  In short, bike lawyer Ross Hirsch and Jeff Jacoburger and Jay Slater from the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee all testified and supported the proposal with a few suggested changes to the language clarifying what “harassment” means and how to asses fines to drivers found guilty of violating the new ordinance.

I think most Streetsblog readers are familiar with the three years of advocacy that went in to the “bike/ped set aside” and the “anti-harassment ordinance,” but credit goes to the LACBC’s Alexis Lantz and Aurisha Smolarski, LA Walks’ Deborah Murphy and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s Jessica Meaney for working with LADOT and Councilman Rosendahl’s Office for making the idea of a Safe Routes Master Plan a reality.

Image: Safe Routes California

Well, that debate can be put to rest.

The bicycle program will receive an infusion of roughly $2.675 million dollars that will go towards bicycle lanes, sharrows, bike parking and bike friendly streets throughout the city.  Every Council District will see some sort of improvement from the Measure R cash.  A portion of those funds, less than 9%, will be used for staff hours, but overall the funds are being spent on new projects that will go on the ground.  Pages 4 and 5 of the linked report contain a list of the projects.

But where things get really exciting is the pedestrian component.

In addition to improving intersections and transit stops, the city is putting aside just less than half of the pedestrian funds for Phase I of a two-year study of access to our schools for students on bike and on foot.  For those not familiar with the history of Los Angeles’ Safe Routes to School program, this might seem a disappointment.  However, the city has consistently under-performed when seeking state and federal grants from the “Safe Routes to School” programs because the city’s applications seemed to be more about politics than what schools were most in need of help.

By committing to a city-wide study, the LADOT is reversing course and embracing progressive transportation over politics.  In the past, LADOT had tried to excerpt political pressure to earn funding for applications that were less deserving than others so that Safe Route’s dollars would be spread out geographically.  This study proposes that the City use data, such as collision rates, to identify where prioritize efforts and give a strategic plan for supporting city-wide students walking and bicycling to school.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl has been pushing for a strategic plan since his appointment as Transportation Committee Chair in 2009, “When it comes to transportation improvements, it’s all too common how the City employs an ad-hoc strategy. A Safe Routes strategic plan moves the City to a data driven process that will target  comprehensive improvements at schools most in need.  A strategic vision for getting kids to-and-from school by bicycle or walking will not only mean safer, healthier communities but also make the City far more competitive in winning transportation grant dollars.”

The City of Los Angeles makes up 10% of the state’s population, and 11% of its school-age children.  Yet, the city traditionally receives about 5-7% of Safe Routes to School’s funding.  Hopefully, this study can begin to reverse this trend.

“LADOT is excited to be a part of a strategic, data-driven plan that will map out “Safe Routes To School” projects in Los Angeles neighborhoods,” explains Pauline Chan, LADOT’s Senior Transportation Engineer for City-wide Traffic Safety Programs.

In testimony delivered late last year, Safe Routes to School’s National Partnership’s Jessica Meaney made the case for a data-driven Safe Routes to School’s Plan.  “A data driven – safety plan for LA’s school kids to walk and bike to school – would be a tremendous move for the City of LA to make – on so many levels. I recognize it would be challenging and complex – but I do believe there is a way the City could develop a meaningful and effective program.”

But there are some concerns with LADOT’s overall proposal.  Advocates note that the study is to be overseen by a “Pedestrian Coordinator” a position which isn’t funded using Measure R or any other dollars at this point.

“Our concern is that in the summary it talks about the pedestrian advisory coordinator, but has no staff dollars for the program,” explains Deborah Murphy, the founder of L.A. Walks and the Chair of the city’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee,  “They should reallocate some funds from the transit stop enhancements for the pedestrian coordinator.  They can’t just propose to have the pedestrian coordinator later.”

As mentioned earlier, Streetsblog will live tweet the meeting tomorrow at 2:00 P.M. and will follow-up with a larger story on Thursday.

R.D. White Elementary School – Glendale Walk to School Day 2009. Photo: Kara Sergile.

Since 1997, communities around the U.S. have been celebrating Walk to School Day. In 2009, over 3,300 walking events registered their participation in Walk to School events. How many will this year? How are those of us in Southern California supporting this great event?

Walk to School Day on October 6^th, is an event that helps communities get involved and excited about Safe Routes to School.  The Safe Routes to School movement is something everyone can be a part of.  And it’s easy to find local examples on how to get a program started with cities like Glendale City Council proclaiming October, International Walk-to-School Month for the entire city.  On October 6^th, due to the impressive efforts of Kara Sergile, a parent and community member, and many others, over 16 schools in the city are participating in Walk to School events.  One school has chosen a theme for their event – “Walk of Fame” – Hollywood style – so as students arrive at school from their walk, they will be able to walk the red carpet and put down their own star on the “Walk of Fame”!

Another reason to be excited for Walktober is CicLAvia.  No doubt you’ve heard of this event coming up on Sunday October 10^th, where over 7 miles will be opened for walking and bicycling and closed to cars.  Families, kids and all are welcome to join the newly established MidDay Ridazz.  MidDay Ridazz are putting together a ride where families meet at each end of the route and ride about 4 miles together to the middle.

Want to get involved in something like this?  Interested in seeing Southern California support more Safe Routes to School efforts?  Contact me at jessica(at)saferoutespartnership.org and find out about the Southern California Safe Routes to School Network. We have a meeting coming up from 10:30 – noon on October 13^th – join us if you can.

It’s exciting to hear of LA City Councilmember Jan Perry and her participation in a Walk to School event in South LA, as well as the City of Riverside’s numerous events and great participation and support from Mayor Ron Loveridge.  If you know of other Walk to School events happening – please send that info to me (jessica (at)saferoutespartnership.org) or write in the comments section below.

Halloween isn’t too far away – and it’s good to remember walking school buses – work well as walking trick or treater buses too!

Jessica Meaney is the California Policy Manager, Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Jessica coordinates two Safe Routes to Schools networks – one at the State level, and one at the Regional level in Southern California. These networks work to bring together advocacy groups, parents and community members, government agencies and other leaders.  This work is all towards the common goals to: ensure that Safe Routes to School funds succeed in California, leverage additional resources, and address and improve regional transportation policies.   Help grow the Safe Routes to School in California Facebook page.

For those of you who do not yet know him – meet Zozo!  He’s Livable Streets’ big purple friend who loves anything that gets people out of cars and moving about the streets.  You might find him riding his ZoGo along the new PPW bike lane, sitting out in the pedestrian plaza in Union Square or catching the 4 train to amble about the city.  Or right here on Streetfilms in the next few months as he talks about the best “Way to Go!”

So, what better way to mark this year’s International Walk to School Day on October 6th, than to get the info directly from Zozo. According to our friends at the National Center for Safe Routes to School, this idea began in 1997 when the Partnership for a Walkable America sponsored the first Walk Our Children to School Day in Chicago.  Since 2002, it has become a worldwide event, with schools here in America in all 50 states leading the way for healthier children.  Make sure you get out for Walk to School and walk or ride your bike that day!

For more info, or to register your event that day go to www.walktoschool.org.  In 2009, there were great events in New York City & San Francisco that Streetfilms captured. ]]> http://www.streetfilms.org/zozo-wants-you-to-walk-to-school/#/feed/ 0 http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/15/eric-cantor-postpones-battle-over-safe-routes-funding/ http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/15/eric-cantor-postpones-battle-over-safe-routes-funding/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:07:49 +0000 Damien Newton http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=53501 [...]]]> Image via Bike Portland (Update: Cantor's office responded below that the reason the "Safe Routes to School" funding cuts can't be found on the site was because the vote on this proposal ended and that it could be a YouCut proposal again in the future.  Streetsblog will monitor YouCut to see when it comes up again.  To see the original post, and the text of Cantor's response, click on after the jump.- DN)   It's no surprise that Republican House Whip Eric Cantor would target bicycle and pedestrian funding as "wasteful."  Earlier this month, he proposed"eliminating federally funded transportation 'enhancements like landscaping, preservation of historic facilities, and pedestrian and bike facilities' at a savings of $833 million to the federal government."  In his list of proposed areas of saving highways were not included. At YouCut, Cantor proposes five ways the federal government can save a lot of money, and urges people to vote on which program is most deserving of being cut.  The Whip promises a floor vote on each "winning program."  However, when Cantor proposed saving the government $183 million by cutting funds to make children's commutes safer; the reaction wasn't what he expected.  By this morning, the option of voting to eliminate Safe Routes to School was missing from the site. Wielding e-mail lists, blogs and social network websites, advocates beat back Cantor's attack. Almost immediately, The League of American Cyclists sent a letter to supporters urging them to contact their Member of Congress in case a Safe Routes cut actually made it to the House Floor.  Their letter was picked up by blogs ranging from Bike Portland to Virginia Bikes, which also urged Cantor's constituents to give him an earful.  In addition, the League's letter was forwarded by an untold number of groups.  Personally, I received five copies of it: from Bikes Belong, the Caltrans Bike Advisory Committee, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Ciudad de las Luces and the Safe Routes to Schools National Partnership. However, just because this attempt at cutting Safe Routes to School's funding was beaten back, it doesn't mean that it's not going to rear its ugly head again.  In his justification for cutting Safe Routes, Cantor calls the project "duplicative' because other funding sources exist for bicycle and pedestrian projects and blasts the requirement that every state have at least one Safe Routes coordinator.  This sort of Car Culture reasoning, that funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects is wasteful without ever thinking that our federal subsidy for car-driving is far more costly and wasteful, isn't going to go away because of a bunch of angry email from cyclists.]]> http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/06/15/eric-cantor-postpones-battle-over-safe-routes-funding/feed/ 25 http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/04/23/speed-humps-installed-surrounding-nine-school-valley-schools/ http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/04/23/speed-humps-installed-surrounding-nine-school-valley-schools/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:34:49 +0000 Damien Newton http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=44041 [...]]]> Miranda Chavez, Student Body Vice President for Langdon Elementary, speaks as some other politicians and students look on. Photo: Office of Richard Alarcon

City Councilman Richard Alarcon has always been a vocal supporter for traffic calming and safe streets around schools and other places that children congregate. In 2007, he introduced legislation calling for the LADOT to report on how it prioritizes traffic calming devices around schools, parks and recreation centers. Last year, he introduced the resolution which created the "set-aside" for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the city's Measure R Local Return funds.

We all know that the battle to slow traffic is a hard one, so yesterday must have been a good one for the Councilman. Surrounded by students from Langdon Elementary, Alarcon celebrated the installation of speed humps and curb cuts around eight schools in the 7th Councilmanic District, paid for with Safe Routes to Schools funds. At Langdon Elementary School, where the press conference was held, there have been 28 collisions on that block between 2003-2008, including 2 pedestrian related and 4 bicycle related accidents, as reported by LADOT.

"It is always fantastic to hear of leaders and communities addressing and prioritizing the needs of children and their families to safely and enjoyably access their schools," says Jessica Meaney, California Policy Manager for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

Streetsblog had been highly critical of the city's grant writing efforts when it comes to "Safe Routes to Schools," the projects and proposals coming out of Alarcon's district have always been superior to the fare offered by LADOT for the rest of the city. That the LADOT complains about the city not receiving its "fare share" of SRTS funding while eight schools in one district have traffic calming installed with SRTS funds over the course of one week tells the story. If anyone is interested in seeing these kinds of projects for their local schools, there is a Safe Routes to School's training session at the Caltrans building Downtown at 9:00 A.M. If you're interested, email Caltrans' local SRTS Direcyor at dale_benson@dot.ca.gov. The meeting occurs in advance of a July 15 deadline to apply for $24 million in California SRTS grants.

In addition to Langdon Elementary, traffic calming was installed in recent weeks a seven other schools. Here are the schools with the speed humps and curb cuts:

• Pacoima Elementary School
• Rosa Parks Learning Center School
• Sepulveda Middle School
• Chase Elementary School
  
• Maclay Middle School
• St. Didacus Religious Education School
• Sylmar High School.

Safe Routes to School programs, such as this one, could see a boost from the health bill’s grant program. (Photo: CA DOT)

The process isn’t quite finished yet — the Senate still must take up a series of tweaks to its original bill under the filibuster-proof reconciliation framework for debate — but the meat of the upper chamber’s health proposal is set to become law by week’s end.

Once that occurs, a new pool of federal “Community Transformation” grants would be established, with local governments and nonprofit groups eligible for a share of the funding. As Streetsblog Capitol Hill noted back in November, the grants would go towards projects that support public health, including “activities to prevent chronic diseases” and “the infrastructure to support active living.”

In practice, that could result in new funding available for bike-ped improvements or programs that encourage safe transportation for young students, such as Safe Routes to School.

The Senate bill also recognizes transportation’s role in public health by giving the U.S. DOT a seat on a new National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council that would coordinate federal wellness policy.

The first lady visited "Sesame Street" last fall as part of her push to fight childhood obesity. (Photo: NYDN)

Mrs.
Obama appeared with six Cabinet members, the Surgeon General, and
several lawmakers and mayors to mark the president’s official creation
of a new Task Force on Childhood Obesity. As part of the first lady’s
new effort, the White House plans to expand the President’s Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports, while setting up a Safe and Healthy
Schools Fund during hte next reauthorization of federal elementary
education law.

In her remarks to the press this afternoon,
Mrs. Obama paid particular attention to the lifestyle shifts that have
led many kids to a more sedentary routine — and helped contribute to
obesity rates of 17 percent for children and teens, according to the
Journal of the American Medical Association. (The same study found that one of every three U.S. kids are oversight.)

The first lady said:

In my home, we weren’t rich. The foods we ate weren’t fancy. But
there was always a vegetable on the plate. And we managed to lead a
pretty healthy life.

Many kids today aren’t so fortunate. Urban sprawl and fears about safety often mean the only walking they do
is out their front door to a bus or a car. Cuts in recess and gym mean
a lot less running around during the school day, and lunchtime may mean
a school lunch heavy on calories and fat. For many kids, those
afternoons spent riding bikes and playing ball until dusk have been
replaced by afternoons inside with TV, the Internet, and video games.

Mrs. Obama highlighted the presidential budget proposal for
$400 million in financing to develop supermarkets and farmers’ markets
in neighborhoods that currently lack a walkable healthy food option,
but she did not directly mention Safe Routes to School, the federal program that helps carve out local routes for children to bike and walk from home to class every day.

This morning a job announcement appeared in my Inbox from the non-profit that works on Safe Routes to Schools Issues across the country.  Given the somewhat deplorable state of our city’s efforts to apply for Safe Routes grants, this position could be a game changer for those working to make travel to Los Angeles’ schools safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.  A copy of the announcement is below, and a link to the full application can be found at the end of the article:

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is hiring a full-time  California policy manager who will be based in the Los Angeles area.  The  policy manager will influence transportation funding allocations and policies at the state-level and in the six-county region governed by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) to benefit walking and bicycling for children and families, especially lower-income communities most vulnerable to childhood obesity. The California policy manager will work 20 hours/week on statewide issues and 20 hours/week on activities in Southern California, reporting to Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, who also serves as Chair of the California State Network. The full job description along with instructions on how to apply can be found here: http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/about/4058/326116

The National Safe Routes to Schools Partnership wants stimuls funds for the Arroyo Seco Greenway. Image: La Cita Vida/Flickr

As part of its share of the federal stimulus package, Caltrans was allocated $28 million for "Transportation Enhancements," a federal funding category that is home to bicycle, pedestrian, beautification and other road projects that aren't widening or fix-it projects.  However, according to the National Safe Routes to Schools Partnership, Caltrans is having trouble spending those funds.  From a letter from the partnership to Caltrans:

Earlier this week, Caltrans Headquarters staff communicated to me that they had only been able to identify 30-35 percent of the state’s $28 million in TE funds for construction by the CCC, and only one bicycle project in the entire state. We know that there are many more bicycle and pedestrian projects that meet the ABX3 20 TE requirements.

One bikeway project in the entire state?  Jeesh.  Fortunately, the Partnership is fully capable of doing its own outreach and analysis.  After talking to governments around the state, the Partnership created it's own list of worthy "TE" projects which can be found exclusively here.  Among those projects the Partnership would look to see funded are the first phase of the Arroyo Seco Greenway and trail imrpovements for the Los Cerito Wetlands.

The full letter from the Partnership to Caltrans can be found after the jump.

April 10, 2009

Mr. Will Kempton, Director ;California Department of Transportation

Re:ARRATransportationEnhancementsfundsandABX320Priorities

Dear Mr. Kempton:

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership, based in California, is pleased that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) includes $77 million in Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds for California. The resulting projects will help to enhance the livability of communities throughout California while also creating jobs.

As you know, the state legislation to implement the recovery act, ABX3 20, established a hierarchy for TE projects such that projects that can be constructed by the California Conservation Core (CCC) or their affiliates should be funded first, followed by bicycle/pedestrian projects. We understand Caltrans has $28 million to program for TE projects on the state highway system and that the remainder of the TE funds will be programmed by metropolitan planning organizations and regional transportation planning organizations, but all TE ARRA funds are subject to the new criteria in ABX3 20.

Earlier this week, Caltrans Headquarters staff communicated to me that they had only been able to identify 30-35 percent of the state’s $28 million in TE funds for construction by the CCC, and only one bicycle project in the entire state. We know that there are many more bicycle and pedestrian projects that meet the ABX3 20 TE requirements.

The Partnership conducted outreach to cities, counties and advocates throughout the state to identify potential bicycle and pedestrian projects on the state highway system that are eligible for TE funding. Attached is a list of these candidate projects, which includes 25 bicycle and pedestrian projects totaling more than $56 million. Our instructions were for project sponsors to identify projects that are ready-to-go, on the state highway system, so that funds could be obligated quickly, and projects constructed by Caltrans in the near term.

In light of these findings, we urge Caltrans to take the following actions:

1)   Outreach: Have Headquarters contact the 12 Districts with a sample letter to send to every Congestion Management Agency, city, and county with a request to identify ready-to-go TE projects on the state highway system that that could be built by the CCC or are bicycle/pedestrian projects.

2)   Ensure Regional Compliance: Have Headquarters Local Assistance contact the RTPAs/MPOs and advise them to comply with the ABX3 20 hierarchy for TE project selection, and follow up by reviewing eligibility to ensure that the regional share of TE is being programmed in compliance with the law, and that the regions meet the obligation date deadlines.

2)   Obligate 50 percent by June: Obligate only 50 percent of the TE money by the June 2009 deadline so that there is enough time to meet the state-legislated priorities for TE while also ensuring that California doesn't lose any of the $77M in TE funding.

3)   Accountability: Create a process that is transparent and accountable for both the state and regional shares of the TE funds. There should be an opportunity for wide public input to truly incorporate the needs and priorities of California’s communities. Please post all information on the state’s recovery website, including whether a funded project involved the CCC or was a bicycle/pedestrian project.

In addition to creating construction jobs in the near-term, completed bicycle and pedestrian projects will provide opportunities for people to walk and bicycle to shops and other destinations, thereby helping to create a vibrant local economy and thriving livable communities.

I look forward to working with you to ensure accountability and transparency for programming the TE ARRA funds. As always, I’m pleased to have the opportunity to work with you to improve mobility and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians within the great state of California.

Please let me know how Caltrans intends to proceed to identify and program projects for the TE portion of ARRA funding. If there is anything I can do to assist Caltrans in this process, please do not hesitate to call on me. I look forward to your response.

Best regards,

Deb Hubsmith

Safe Routes to School National Partnership

A story in yesterday's New York Times took a look at the safety conditions surrounding Los Angeles' public schools and painted a horrific picture of a traffic nightmare.  Focusing on the condition's surrounding Florence Nightengale Middle School, the NY Times found that narrow sidewalks and a glut of parents racing to pick up their children create a dangerous, chaotic mess for children.  Sadly, the problem isn't limited to just to one school:

Traffic patterns around schools in Los Angeles have become clogged and often dangerous because of a large growth in student enrollment and an increase in the number of parents who ferry their children to and from school out of fear for their safety, Mr. Hopwood said. Especially in high-crime areas, parents are reluctant to let their children walk.

“It’s getting worse and worse each year,” said Brad Smith, an environmental health and safety officer at the school district, “because so many parents feel that they need to drop their kids at the front entrance of the school because they are concerned about harm.”

The Times' story doesn't just detail the problems, but does give credit to the Los Angeles' City Attorney's office for creating a program that would turn parents into mini-traffic cops.  After a group of parents tried the vigilante approach to traffic policing, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo created a program where police "professionalize" new traffic safety volunteers to and provide them with cones and vests to help them control traffic.

And does the traffic ever need to be controlled!  The Times talks to bus drivers, school officials, and parents all of whom complain about the glut of cars on the street; yet the article doesn't go into what can be done to solve the congestion issues.  The words "Department of Transportation" or "LADOT" don't appear in the article, and given the department's mediocre track record in securing state Safe Routes to Schools grants, it may not be the worst thing in the world that they aren't quoted.  Also absent was any discussion of what, if any, impact the decision to cut back on school buses to save budget dollars has had on the dangerous traffic disaster surrounding our public schools.

Incidently, I can't help but notice that when you click on the story, the article appears from the "Los Angeles Journal" and at the bottom of the article there is an advertisement that refers to the NY Times as "L.A.'s top source for daily news."  Are our own daily papers about to find themselves a new competitor in the market?