Seattle School Parents: Citywide Walk & Bike Planning Meeting April 12
March 29, 2012 2 Comments
Hey parents! Do you dream of full bike racks on the playground and lots of helmet clad kids riding around the school yard? Or sidewalks filled with happy kids and parents walking to school? Are you interested in starting a walk and bike to school program at your kid’s school but don’t know where to start?
Let’s get together and share ideas about walking and biking to school!
Mark your calendars for the city-wide walk and bike to school meeting:
7:00 – 8:30 PM, April 12th in the Bryant Elementary library (3311 NE 60th Street)
In an effort to reverse the worrisome Decline of Walking and Biking to School in the US, a group of NE Seattle parents started walk and bike to school programs at Bryant elementary, Laurelhurst elementary and Eckstein middle school. Over the past 5 years, these programs have experienced considerable success and growth with the percentage of walkers and bikers increasing at Bryant and Laurelhurst. For example, According to family surveys SDOT conducted over a 5-year period (from 2007 – 2011), Bryant had the highest percentage of kids biking to school (8% in 2011). Bryant also increased the percentage of kids walking and biking to school (from 11% in 2007 to 33% in 2011)
Even with this success, we still have a long way to go in order to get back to 1969 percentages.
From Safe Routes to School:
- In 1969, 48 % of children 5 to 14 years of age walked or bicycled to school
- In 2009, 13 % of children 5 to 14 years of age walked or bicycled to school
- In 1969, 41 % of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school
- 88 % of these children walked or bicycled to school
- In 2009, 31 %of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school
- 38 % of these children walked or bicycled to school
Let’s work together and get the percentage of children who walk and bike to school in Seattle back to 88%!
Join us on April 12th and get information on how to get a program started at your kid’s school. Meet other parents who also want to increase walking and biking to school.
Meeting goals:
- Share information about walking and biking programs in schools
- Get information about how to start a program at your school
- Meet other parents who share the same goals
- Build a network for information sharing throughout Seattle (blog, twitter, Facebook and Google Groups)
We hope to see you there!
About Tim K
Walk.Bike.Schools! 
Tim K — hello! I am delighted you are leading this project. Our kids will benefit, as will our neighborhoods. I fully support your effort.
Recently Greg Raisman and Mark Lear from Portland Bureau of Transportation shared a slide with me that showed how parents can contribute to safe routes to school when they support Neighborhood Greenways and walk or ride their bikes with their kids. With fewer cars driving in and around the school, parents feel their children are safer and more walkers and riders result in healthier students and better neighborhood connections. I am happy to share the Raisman/Lear presentation if you’d like it.
–Sally Bagshaw
Seattle City Councilmember
Pingback: Tonight: Ride with Bike Snob NYC + Citywide bike-to-school parents meet-up | Seattle Bike Blog