We Need YOU to Call Your Legislators to Support Safe Routes to School!
Join Our Conference Call on March 1 at 10 a.m. MST for More Info on How to Help
We are hoping there will be a hearing soon for Senate Bill 1121, which would establish state funding for Safe Routes to School. Join us for a conference call on Wednesday, March 1 at 10 a.m. MST for tips on talking to your legislators and urging them to support this legislation. Visit this news post for links on messaging, legislator contact info, how to find out who your representative is, and more.
|
|
Why Idaho Needs to Dedicate Funds for Safe Routes to School
by Cynthia Gibson, Idaho Walk Bike Alliance Executive Director
As parents, our greatest concern is for the safety of our children. That is why Idaho Walk Bike Alliance is determined to secure state funds for Safe Routes to School. Whether this happens in the 2017 legislative session or not, we will not quit until we have dedicated funding. We are working to ensure every Idaho community—no matter where it is located or how few people live in it—has the opportunity to build more sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, pathways, or greenbelts. And we know having Safe Routes to School Coordinators in every district throughout the state will increase awareness and education for parents and students, giving every child in Idaho the chance to grow up safe and healthy.
The statistics are alarming. According to Idaho Transportation Department’s 2015 Crash Report, on average from 2011 to 2015, 191 children per year between the ages of 4 and 19 were injured or killed while riding their bicycle or walking. We expect 2016 to be no different.
That is why Idaho Walk Bike Alliance, American Heart Association and our partners are working at the legislature every single day to secure state funds dedicated to this valuable program. Idaho’s children deserve to be healthy, safe, active, and ready to learn when they arrive at school each day. Their trip to school should not be dangerous. Additionally, parents should not worry about their child becoming obese or subject to chronic disease because they lack access to places to be physically active.
We hope you will join us and our growing coalition of partners, working to help our children grow up in a safe and healthy environment. And we ask you to reach out to your state Senators, Representatives, and Idaho Transportation Department staff and board, and tell them our children deserve the best opportunity for a successful future.
|
|
|
US: a statewide bike/ped nonprofit looking for  .
LIKES: advocating for safer streets for all users, and helping communities and local bike/ped groups get the money, support and technical assistance they need to build and maintain great walking and biking networks.
YOU: a dedicated, and possibly avid, walker and/or bicyclist, an Idaho community or a local bike/ped advocacy organization.
LIKES: walks, or rolls, on wide open, and obstacle-free, sidewalks and bicycle rides in buffered bike lanes that provide enough space to avoid open doors.
If interested meet us here anytime to let us know you want to Share YOUR Love for walking and biking all year long.
We hope to have 50 of our supporters sign up to be Monthly StRider Champions, a new monthly giving program of the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance.
Your monthly gifts WILL make a difference!
|
|
Instead of Buying
2 lattes
1 lunch out
2 movie tickets
1 tank of gas
1 dinner for two
|
Make a Monthly Gift, & See it Add Up!
$10 / month = $120 a year
$15 / month = $180 a year
$20 / month = $240 a year
$35 / month = $420 a year
$50 / month = $600 a year
|
|
|
Monthly donations help us by providing a stable, year-round source of funds that support our statewide efforts. This allows us to do the day-to-day work necessary to ensure active transportation is healthy, safe and reliable for all Idahoans.
Monthly donations help you by spreading out your giving over the course of a year and adding up to make a big difference! It’s convenient and safe, and you can set them up with just a few clicks.
Please join the Monthly StRider Champions today!
Thank you for SHARING YOUR for walking and biking.
|
|
Safe Routes to School Campaign Update
What an exciting week for the Safe Routes to School – Healthy Kids Campaign, led by Idaho Walk Bike Alliance and the American Heart Association! Our bill was printed last Friday, and we hope to have a committee hearing soon.
Senate Bill 1121 calls for a dedicated fund just for Safe Routes to School dollars, and we would love your grassroots support to make this a reality! Calling and emailing legislators is truly effective and influential. Receiving concise, informed, and passionate messages from constituents helps remind lawmakers who they represent. Join us for a conference call on Wednesday, March 1 at 10 a.m. MST for tips on messaging and to find out which committee will be hearing the bill. You can find more info on the call here. And make sure to follow the bill's progress at every stage on the Legislature's Bill Tracking webpage.
|
|
Legislative Update
Idaho Walk Bike Alliance is closely following developments on legislation and issues in Idaho, and beyond, pertaining to walking and bicycling safety so we can contribute to the process and keep our members informed. Read the update from February 27 to find out more about the following topics:
- Safe Routes to School – Healthy Kids Campaign
- electric bike legislation
- crossing guards
- hybrid cars
- non-motorized users on rural highways
- passing speed law
- personal delivery drones
- autonomous vehicles
Don't forget to read the February 9 and January 27 updates too for history on some of the above issues. If you know of other policy proposals that would affect our core mission, or if you have questions or comments regarding this legislative update, please contact us right away!
|
|
7th Annual Youth Lobby Day was February 3
Students Advocated for Safe Routes to School Funding at Idaho State Capitol
High school students from Treasure Valley youth leadership organizations advocated for Safe Routes to School legislation during Idaho Youth Lobby Day at the State Capitol on Friday, February 3. The students discussed the importance of physical activity to the health of children. Having access to safe places to walk, bike and play allows children of all ages to make physical activity a part of their day, which leads to a lifetime of healthy habits. Safe Routes to School funding helps improve opportunities to walk and bike to school promoting the ability for all students, and entire communities, to be physically active – safely and easily.
Students Delphia Lloyd and Alexander Olsen meet with Rep. Eric Redman (R), Athol.
This 7th annual youth lobby event was sponsored by the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association to give students the opportunity to see firsthand how government operates and to participate in the process. It also allowed them to learn more about the Idaho State Legislature and issue advocacy and to meet with their representatives.
|
|
Have You Cycled Southwest Idaho's Wine Region?
Help Us Create a Tour Map!
Idaho Walk Bike Alliance is looking for bicyclists who are familiar with the southwest Idaho wine region to help us pinpoint safe roads for bike tourists wanting to explore the wineries. Have you cycled around Canyon County and collected your rides through Strava or Garmin? Would you be willing to share that information with us to help us create a wine tour map? We are also interested in identifying other points of interest and places to stay and eat. Please send your information via email.
|
|
New Technical Assistance Program Available for MPOs
Attend an Informational Webinar on Wednesday, March 1 at 12:00 p.m.; Apply Before Friday, March 10 at 3:00 p.m.
Transportation for America is "launching a new technical assistance program to help metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) go further with measuring and quantifying the multiple benefits of transportation spending decisions to help ensure that every dollar is aligned with the public’s goals and brings the greatest return possible for citizens."
The organization "has designed a suite of tools to help MPOs not only satisfy the modest new federal requirements, but also go beyond them into other areas such as public health, access to opportunity, social equity; and to help them translate their big picture targets and goals into specific criteria for choosing and prioritizing what transportation projects to build and where."
Learn more and apply before Friday, March 10 at 3:00 p.m. MST. Attend an informational webinar to learn more about the program on Wednesday, March 1 at noon.
|
|
Congratulations Twin Falls!
City to Receive Technical Assistance from Smart Growth America
The City of Twin Falls will receive free technical assistance from Smart Growth America. This program helps cities integrate small-scale manufacturing spaces into their economic development work. According to Smart Growth America, "buoyed by a strong agriculture and food processing industry, Twin Falls seeks to find uses for its underutilized warehousing district in unison with other downtown redevelopment initiatives. The City, the smallest and most remote of the four to be selected, now wants to diversify its economic base, with a focus on outdoor recreation products given their location and beautiful surroundings. Twin Falls is also a refugee resettlement community, and would like to provide skill-based training programs to this disadvantaged population."
|
|
Idaho Walk Bike Alliance Staff Step Up for the
Idaho STEP Challenge
To encourage others to be active and healthy, Congressman Mike Simpson is attempting to walk over 2,900 miles; the 'journey' began June 1. This is the equivalent of walking from the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. to the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise.
Idaho Walk Bike Alliance staff have joined the #HikewithMike and are walking at noon on Thursdays in Boise. Meet us at the center of Capitol Park for a stroll around downtown. Follow Rep. Simpson's progress, sign up for updates and STEP UP to join the challenge too. If you are hosting #HikewithMike walks in your communities, let us know so we can encourage others to join you!
|
|
|
You Can Shop AND Do Good!
With Fred Meyer Community Rewards
and AmazonSmile
Did you know you can support active transportation while you shop? It’s something you have to do anyway, so make every pantry staple, splurge or special occasion purchase count.
Fred Meyer
Community Rewards
Link your Fred Meyer rewards card to Idaho Walk Bike Alliance (#91348), scan it every time you pay, and we'll receive donations from their Community Rewards program, at no extra cost to you. It's easy to do, so sign up to link your card today!
- Visit Fred Meyer and sign in or register for an account at top right.
- Scroll down and click Link your Rewards Card Now.
- Enter Idaho Walk Bike Alliance or 91348.
- Select the bubble next to our name and click the Enroll tab.
- Start shopping to benefit the walking and biking movement!
NOTE: If you did not re-link your Fred Meyers Rewards card with the nonprofit of your choice after Fred Meyer's June 2016 customer re-enrollment period, you were dropped from the system on July 1. You can check the bottom of your Fred Meyer receipts to see if your purchases are supporting the Idaho Walk Bike Alliance:
AmazonSmile
Shop online at AmazonSmile, choose Idaho Walk Bike Alliance as your charity of choice, and 0.5% of each qualified purchase will be donated to us, with no extra fees for you. Sign up now!
- Visit AmazonSmile and sign in with your existing Amazon.com account info or create an account.
- Scroll down to pick your own charitable organization instead of choosing one of Amazon's spotlight charities.
- Enter Idaho Walk Bike Alliance in the search box and hit the Search button.
- Click on the Select button next to our name.
- Check that you understand you always need to shop via smile.amazon.com to support Idaho Walk Bike Alliance.
- Start ordering online to support active transportation!
- You can even keep track of your AmazonSmile impact. Hover your cursor over the 'Supporting: Idaho Walk Bike Alliance Inc." link located just under the search bar and see how much your purchases have added up. Sample below.
Click image to enlarge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
