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Introductions & Overview
About the National SRTS Conference
Report-Backs
Announcements

Agenda

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Introductions

In the chat, please share your:

Name + pronouns
Organization
Role
Location

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PURPOSE: Strengthen Safe Routes to Schools programs through sharing information, exchanging ideas and building relationships

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Safe Routes to School

Federal

State

County

City

District

School

Goal: Help children get to school safely and actively by walking, biking, or rolling.

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The WA SRTS Network is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health.

Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.

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About the

National SRTS Conference

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Highlights from Minneapolis!

National SRTS Conference Report-Backs

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Lisa Bender (she/her)

Senior Planner, Alta Planning + Design | Minneapolis, MN

lisabender@altago.com

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mndot.gov/onmyway

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§123b.935 & §174.38

Above (and Beyond) the Law

mndot.gov/onmyway

Lisa

Above (and Beyond) the Law�35 seconds

Minnesota now requires public schools to provide age-appropriate active transportation safety education: pedestrian safety for kindergarten through third grade, with bicycle and e-bike safety added for grades four through eight. Schools will give this instruction annually, alongside the usual school bus safety training, which is commonly taught to all students in the fall.

MnDOT created materials to guide that instruction with support from Alta Planning + Design, BikeMN, Zan Associates, and the Safe Routes Partnership. On My Way! helps schools go above (and beyond) the law through prepared lessons that are easy to access, straightforward to deliver, and engaging to participate in.

The law established an expectation, but our goals also include confidence, independence, and exploration. We want students to build real skills they can use to get around their communities.

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Three differentiated grade bands

mndot.gov/onmyway

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Lisa

Materials for Teachers, Administrators, and Families�1 minute

The program includes videos, lesson plans, slide decks, and supplemental activities, along with special education supports and resources for administrators and families.

Prepared scripts and discussion prompts help educators deliver lessons, even if they’re new to teaching these topics. Administrators have templates to connect with staff and families, and caregivers can reinforce the learning at home.

On My Way! also fits within a broader set of educational tools. Minnesota’s Walk! Bike! Fun! program provides hands-on pedestrian and bicycle instruction.

Here in Washington, I have heard that Cascade’s Let’s Go and Let’s Go Further programs offer a similar connection to hands-on learning. A resource like this, which is designed to be delivered in a classroom setting, compliments that work rather than replacing it.

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Video:

I can stay visible!

mndot.gov/onmyway

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Video:

Bike smart:

Safe riding skills

mndot.gov/onmyway

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Video:

Navigating Neighborhoods

mndot.gov/onmyway

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mndot.gov/onmyway

Julia

Takeaways for Washington SRTS�40 seconds

Thank you for walking us through this resource, Lisa. I am going to step in just to add some local context for everyone. For us here in Washington, On My Way! offers an instruction model that we might consider developing for our own state in the future as we look for more ways to reach students. Since it is free and publicly available, we can also put this Minnesota resource to use now in some of our classrooms to see if it is an approach to walk, bike, and roll education that resonates with Washington students and educators.

Other important takeaways for us are that policy can set clear expectations for schools, while shared resources support consistent delivery in the classroom. Creating state-specific materials help make a program feel authentic, and sharing them in a central resource hub ensures that the lessons are easy to access for teachers and families. Working with local partners, educators, and students can help make the materials relevant, with room to customize for different communities.

A Washington version would need significant dedicated funding and partnerships, so creating a resource like this would be a big lift. But that being said, if we are able to consider this approach in the future, it would likely lead to more widespread and consistent teaching of pedestrian and bike safety throughout the state.

On My Way! is just beginning to roll out, so we don’t have any evaluation results to share yet, but those will be available in the future. For today, we wanted to let you know that these free materials exist, make sure you know where to find them, share a different approach to walk and bike safety education, and hopefully inspire future projects in Washington.

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Brooke Nelson (she/they)

Safe Routes to School Coordinator, Seattle Public Schools | Seattle, WA

brnelson1@seattleschools.org

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Ellie Anderson (she/her)

TDM & SchoolPool Associate Planner, City of Bellevue | Bellevue, WA

ElAnderson@bellevuewa.gov

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Hannah Day-Kapell (she/her)

Planning Principal, Alta Planning + Design | Portland, OR

hannahday-kapell@altago.com

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Alameda County, California

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Thank you!

washingtonsaferoutes.org

washingtonsrts@gmail.com