Eugene SRTS

Moving to our new site

2009-09-09T08:50:00.001-07:00

We've been hopping around the last two years between this Blogger site, a .Mac website, and a 4J site. We now have a solid and final home at EugeneSRTS.org.

Bookmark the new site and come visit us often for up to date news and some great resources coming all the time.

Summer Fun- Tour de France Graphic Novel

2009-07-23T07:41:00.001-07:00

I'm sure most students are out enjoying the warm summer sun by riding their bikes, hiking in the woods, exploring their neighborhoods, or heading to the pool but for those spending a bit of time online here's a fun graphic novel that goes along with the worlds biggest bike race and one of the most watched sporting events in the world- the Tour de France!

Lance Armstrong is back in this year after two years off. Will he win another Tour?

Don't know much about the Tour? Here's a fun way to get introduced: check out the Tour Graphic Novel!

The Walk + Bike Day Winner of the Zigo- Tonie!

2009-06-17T09:50:00.001-07:00

The Walk + Bike Day Winner of the Zigo- Tonie!, originally uploaded by shanerh.

Two weeks before the Bike Day Celebration we got one of the first Zigo bikes to hit the market. I put it together in time to give it away to the winner from the October Walk + Bike to School Day volunteer raffle.

The Bike Day event was a great success and even though our raffle winner had to work through it she came at the end to pick up her awesome prize.

Tonie Q. was excited to try out her new wheels and we look forward to hearing how it works for her. The Zigo seems to be a great vehicle for families wanting to bike their kids to school.

Zigo wants to get one up to Portland next so they are offering a 40% Discount for the first person in Portland to buy one from their Online Store using the Coupon Code: portland.

The school year is coming to end but the Eugene SRTS program will continue to work, finishing up a new website, working on the education program, firming and building on current projects, celebrating the Blackberry Jamboree family ride, Kidical Mass rides, and more!

We'll also be moving this blog to the new site soon so stay tuned!

Perils for Pedestrians

2009-06-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

This first part of this half hour show interviews Marina Hajek about the tragic death of her son on Bailey Hill Road and then David Roth about the Cities plans for improvements to the road to make it safer for everyone.

Tales of the Road- Safety Fun!

2009-05-12T12:37:00.001-07:00

Great online resource for safe biking and walking skills for kids (from the UK), check out the video below and then work on your skills with some fun online games at Tales of the Road including knocking kids on the head who aren't wearing helmets!

Copenhagen Video

2009-04-18T11:05:00.001-07:00

Some nice shots of family biking in this beautiful and fun Copenhagen video:

Copenhagen - City of Cyclists from Colville Andersen on Vimeo.

Eugene SRTS E-News

2009-04-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

If you're not subscribed to the Eugene SRTS E-News but you'd like to be, send me an email and I'll add you to the list.

Otherwise, here is the latest:

Eugene SRTS E-News (Green Week Edition)

Happy Green Week!

Celebrate next week's Earth Day all week long! Encourage students to walk or roll to school throughout the week, especially April 21st, the day before Earth Day and our official Walk & Roll Day! Small encouragement prizes like reflective zipper pulls, pencils, and other items are available to some schools who organize an event. Contact Shane Rhodes, SRTS Program Manager for more information rhodes_sh@4j.lane.edu (541) 556-3553.

Kidical Mass, Friday April 17th & May 15th

We have some exciting Spring Kidical Mass rides planned! The next one is a celebration of one year for the Kidical Mass rides and we're calling it our BIRTHday Ride! Join us on this family fun ride as we discover new back roads, pedal from one park to another, and share some sweet treats to celebrate (cupcakes anyone?!). This could also be the first Kidical Mass ride that induces labor as one rider (my lovely wife Missy!!) is due any day!!!! Now that would be a Kidical Mass to remember.

Our May ride will be a special outing with the City of Eugene Recreation department to the Skinner Butter Columns for some Kidical Climbing! We'll saddle up and pedal over to the butte with a stop by the CAT to say hi and then up the big climb to harness up and do another human powered climb- on the rocks! Both rides leave at 6 pm from Monroe Park.

Rides are held the third Friday of every month. It's a great time to get together with other families, kids, and kids-at-heart to enjoy a good ride around Eugene. See the Kidical Mass website for some FAQs.

Bike Education Courses Start in May (for Parents, Kids & Teachers)

The Greater Eugene Area Riders (GEARS) and the Eugene SRTS Program are excited to bring a series of "Smart Cycling" bicycle education courses to Eugene again this Spring & Summer. Classes will range from a 1 hour Bike Commuter Class with some of the basics to a 9 hour Traffic Skills 101 course that gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. Want to be more comfortable biking with your kids? Want to be able to teach them how to ride safer and more predictably? Ready to branch out from the River Path recreational rides? Feel confident but want to teach others to be better riders? These are the classes for you! These Smart Cycling courses are also the requirement for teachers or individuals interested in becoming League Certified Instructors (LCIs). The Eugene 4J School District will be working over the next couple of years to implement a full bike education program with teachers certified as LCIs! For more information on these League of American Bicyclists certified courses see the GEARS site or contact Shane Rhodes at 541-556-3553.

Engineering Treatments and Strategies for Safe Routes To School Webinar (Part 2)

This webinar will concentrate on effective engineering tools to create safer street crossings and successful ways to calm traffic along school routes through various means including crosswalks, crossing islands, curb extensions, road diets, state of the art traffic controls, and various traffic calming techniques. This webinar is part of the Safe Routes Coaching Action Network Webinar Series, developed by America Walks and the National Center for Safe Routes to School, and is hosted by the City of Eugene Public Works Department and Eugene SRTS.

April 21st 11 am-noon at the City of Eugene Public Works Department, 99 E. Broadway, 4th Floor.

The Business Commute Challenge!

Mark your calendars for May 11th through May 15th to participate in the 2009 Business Commute Challenge (BCC)! Register your school, department, or business and start challenging others! The BCC is a friendly competition between businesses and organizations that offers participants a chance to win prizes such as gift cards, bagel breakfasts, tickets to local events and more, if they report the highest number of vehicle miles saved. The goal of the challenge is to get people to try an alternative mode of transportation for one week and help them realize that it's easy to bike or ride the bus on a regular basis. A new website will be used this year to log your miles. An Awards Luncheon will be held on Tuesday, May 19, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Stay tuned for updates. For more information or to sign up go to the Commute Challenge website or contact Paul Adkins, Business Commute Challenge Coordinator, or call 682-5285.

Save the Date- June 13th

The 5th Annual Bike Day at the Science Factory grounds in Alton Baker Park!! Loads of fun to be had! See more at eugenegears.org/bikeday

Safety Tip

It's fun on the playground but don't play 'Hide-and-Seek" when riding your bike! Ride in a straight, predictable line and don't weave between parked cars. It may feel safer to get farther from the lane of moving traffic but you become less visible to motorists, become unpredictable, and have to negotiate to get back in the travel lane when you come across another parked car or obstacle. Stay in the lane of travel; if it's safe to share then stay far enough to the right to allow a motorist to pass. If there isn't enough space to share then you have the right to 'claim the lane'. Move over when it is safe and practicable to do so.

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You are subscribed to the Eugene SRTS E-News because you signed up at a local event, participated in an SRTS event, or you work with a partnering organization. If you would like to be removed please send a request to "Unsubscribe from SRTS E-News" to rhodes_sh@4j.lane.edu

If you would like more information about the National SRTS program go to: http://www.saferoutesinfo.org and stay tuned for the new Eugene SRTS site!

Walking & Biking Tunes

2009-03-18T13:29:00.001-07:00

From the SRTS National Partnership March Newsletter- some Safe Routes Music! What is that quote... something about if your revolution doesn't include music I don't want to be involved?

Download these songs and add them to your Walk & Bike Mix!

Blane Lyon Provides Safe Routes Theme Songs

"I want to walk"
"ride my bike"

San Francisco Bay Area musician Blane Lyon recently produced two upbeat, hip, and modern Safe Routes to School theme songs titled “I want to walk” and “ride my bike”. He originally created the songs for use in Santa Rosa, California, a location where the Safe Routes to School National Partnership is working as part of our Local School Project. Blane has now generously made these songs available for use in schools worldwide through the Safe Routes to School National Partnership’s website.

A poet since the age of 13, Blane Lyon has written more than 150 songs and performed more than 500 live concerts. He has always used his art to highlight social and environmental causes and has recently written a series of environmental "theme songs", including the two songs for Safe Routes to School promotion. "I love to write songs that are funky and that spread good thoughts and actions. There is so much good work to be done. It helps to be together and inspired and I think dance music is one of the most contagious and inspiring things on earth," says Lyon.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership thanks Blane Lyon for his generous contribution. We urge schools and organizations using Blane’s songs to provide him with credit, and to link to his website, www.blanelyon.com. His album, “All People”, is available on iTunes too. As many say, “it takes music to make a movement!”

Green Wheel- Design Review

2009-03-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today designbridge gave their final Studio Presentation on the three projects they are working on through the Architecture Dept. at the University of Oregon.

The one we're most excited about of course is the Green Wheel project for a new bike shelter at Roosevelt. We've been through some great

design charrettes, various design meetings, and discussions of budgets but the large chunk of work has taken place in their studio sessions where they have created some amazing models, worked out different

aspects of the design, drawn up some beautiful representations of the project, and created really great visuals to explain the overall vision of the project.

Each time we see more growth in the design it is an exciting advancement from where we were before and today's highlights of the new bench seating (and post/beam mock-up), a "rough draft" of a bike rack made from the old wheel bender racks, and the overall design is no exception.

The next step is to finalize permitting and come spring start in on the building!

The designbridge team has done a great job adapting to their clients needs (that us!) and the current plan to build in three phases still hinges

on finalizing some of the budget issues but with

the amount of energy and professionalism they

have brought to the project so far I have no doubt that some amazing things will happen this Spring!

The Green Wheel team has their own great blog here.

Eye to Eye PSA

2009-03-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the first PSA put out by the Eye to Eye Campaign. It will be running in theaters this Spring & Summer.

Hacking life with kids, but without a car.

2009-02-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

Where the Kidical Mass Riders Are

2009-02-21T20:46:00.001-08:00

Where the Kidical Mass Riders Are, originally uploaded by shanerh.

A small but fun Kidical Mass this month. The rain only sprinkled once at the very end but we enjoyed a bit of sunshine too. Just that little bit inspired us to head to Prince Pücklers and the nice playground behind it for a bit of freeze tag.
The warm months are coming soon, looking forward to bigger groups and getting more Kidical.

Family Van Xtracycles on Sale

2009-02-21T06:49:00.001-08:00

Xtracycle has a sweet deal going right now- the "Family Van" version is on sale for $499. That's the FreeRadical conversion kit, the magic carpet, footsies, and a stoker bar- all you need to carry passengers in comfort, plus the groceries, trumpet, books, and the gym bag. Ride on!

Family Van Love.

Campy 80's Bike Safety Video

2009-02-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

Hopefully the YSRTS Facebook competition can come up with something better than this:

We're not going public with it yet but for the two or three folks following this blog you can find that YSRTS FB page at http://www.tinyurl.com/youthsrts

Bike Ed in Eugene

2009-02-10T13:37:00.001-08:00

Active Transportation Education in Eugene

Current Program & Details:

Currently a Bicycle Safety Education program is run by the Bicycle

Transportation Alliance, based in Portland, Oregon. The BTA has run
the program since 2000 and has reached thousands of students in the
Eugene/Springfield area.

There are approximately 50 Bikes and several hundred helmets in the program
(purchased over a series of years starting in 2000). Bikes are in
various stages of repair ranging from semi-new to non-functioning.
Repairs are carried out approximately once a year and coordinated by
the local Bicycle Education Director.

The bike educators teach mostly at middle schools, focusing on the 6^th
grade but have also taught 7^th and 8^th graders
as well as 5^th graders in an Elementary school. The BTA
has a BikeEd curriculum based on the League of American Bicyclists
program and is approximately 9 hours of instruction that goes from
the classroom setting to the final day of a “community ride”
where the students apply the material learned in the classroom and in
‘parking lot drills’ into on-street riding in their
school neighborhood.

The BTA also has pedestrian safety education curriculum that has not been
brought into the current program.

The Bicycle Education Director works in the Fall and Spring in schools
that they contact and build relationships with. All but one Director
have come from the City of Eugene River House program and have
received support from the City with the use of office space, a
computer and the Recreation Department trailer to move the bikes from
school to school.

Storage was at a City building until it was torn down. Locations have since
ranged from school district buildings to their current location at a
private storage area that is donating the space to the program.

Partial funding for bike storage and travel trailer has been received from
the ODOT SRTS Program.

Ten League Cycling Instructors were trained last year in Eugene including
one PE Teacher from Roosevelt Middle School. That school now has a
sustainable bike education program with their own fleet of bikes and
ALL 6^th graders going to Roosevelt will be trained in a 9
session course.

The Issues:

Storage-
Shuffling bikes from the schools to storage and back again requires
more time and effort than if a dedicated storage trailer were used.
Space still needs to be acquired to park the trailer and a vehicle
used to tow the trailer.

The position is a full time position only in the Fall and Spring. No
work is being done in the Summer and Winter and therefore employees
must find their own work during that time and this has lead to a high
turn-over rate.

The high turn-over rate mentioned before has contributed to a loss of
‘institutional knowledge’ and in the ability to grow the
program to meet the needs of the community.

The Positive Outlook/The Future:

The BTA understands the issues presented above and is supportive of the
growth of the program but because of their distance from the program
and their attempt to grow in areas not currently served (in more
rural areas) they are not able to allocate the time needed to grow
this program.

TheBTA has been supportive of and encourages the idea of a local agency
“taking over” the current education program. Both Lynn
Mutrie, the SRTS Coordinator for the BTA and Scott Bricker, their
Executive Director, have encouraged ‘local control’ of
the program and are willing to work on a smooth transition. They
would like to see the continuation of the BTA Curriculum and
attendance by the local educator in the BTA’s yearly training
for educators.

With a full-time Safe Routes to School Program manager at the 4j School District and an active SRTS Team made up of City, School District, LTD, LCHAY, and other community members an infrastructure of support for a complete Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Education program is growing.

One of the four goals of the SRTS Team is to “implement
developmentally appropriate bicycle and pedestrian safety education
curriculum into the 4J/Bethel School Districts” and they have
formed an Education Subcommittee to work on this.

One model would be to create a full time “Active Transportation
Educator” that would expand the current program to include
basic pedestrian and bicycle education during the winter to
elementary schools (focusing on 2^nd & 3^{rd grades) and the potential
inclusion of adult bike education in the summer months
(with the LAB’s “Smart Cycling" material). BikeEd classes for
the middle schools would continue in the Fall and Spring.}

Besides the BTA, City of Eugene, and school district assistance the Jane
Higdon foundation has already expressed an interest in funding a
traffic safety education program and private, federal, state, and
local support for a traffic education program is very strong.

Items for Consideration:

Could this new “Active Transportation Director” be a GEARs position?

What would be required for GEARs to make their first full-time hire?

What would the job description be and what would the hiring process look like?

What would the short term and long term funding options be?

What will the city involvement continue to be?

What kind of MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) needs to be reached with
the BTA to take over this program?

What kind of insurance would be needed? Would the League of American
Bicyclist “LCI” insurance work for this kind of project?
If so, how can we make sure to get only certified LCI instructors?
If not, what insurance is the BTA using and what is the cost?

Roosevelt Green Wheels Project

2009-02-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

The Roosevelt Green Wheels project is rolling right along!

We are currently in the Fundraising phase. If you would like to help support this great local sustainable transportation and education project please contact:

Shane Rhodes w/4J School District rhodes_sh@4j.lane.edu

Andrew Cusack or Sylvan Cambier w/designBridge: acusack@uoregon.edu or scambier@uoregon.edu

Bike Parking is Essential, Fun, and Awesome

2009-02-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the Edison Bike Parking Ribbon Cutting. This was the project that DesignBridge worked on last year and it turned out really well- it's such an amazing transformation of a space. This area was the bike parking area before but designBridge worked with the school, students, and parents to design and then build this new area. There is a wonderful mural, new racks, fun lighting integrated into the mural, and a stylish bench that has become a central point for parents and students to congregate.

Today's event was a nice gathering of folks who played a big part in getting it done over the last two years including DesignBridge, Principal Tom Maloney, OTREC, parents, and of course the kids. The Eugene SRTS program didn't work on this project but it set the model for what we are now working with designBridge on- bringing this type of project to as many 4j Schools as we can. Right now we are in the middle of the Roosevelt Green Wheel project (the design ideas will be posted at the school on Monday) and next year the project might work with Harris/Eastside. We're also looking into more stable funding for the materials portion of the design/build projects. If anyone knows of an organization interested in funding a great sustainable transport, community build, youth and adult collaboration project send them our way!

More photos can be found on my Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanerh/

Congressman Peter Defazio

2009-02-02T14:39:00.001-08:00

Congressman Peter Defazio
Originally uploaded by chris_was_taken

Shane greets Congressman Defazio.

What a great commute this kid has!

2008-09-18T13:40:00.001-07:00

A ride on an Xtracycle AND a unicycle trip!

And then the Daughter...

Thousands of Kids to Take to the Streets!

2008-09-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, October 8th Eugene will be celebrating with the rest of the world the idea that getting to school under your own power is not only self-empowering but also safe, healthy, and FUN! There are more than 20 schools signed up to participate in National Walk + Bike to School Day in Eugene, a record number! The streets will be filled with elementary kids walking with their parents, middle school students riding in a peloton of backpacks, and even high schoolers eschewing the car to try out some active transportation choices. It’s the big day for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs around the country and as the Eugene SRTS program grows so has participation in this event. Every school is holding their own event, some are stretching it over a whole month with celebrations, prizes, and food while others are simply making the announcement to try walking and biking to school on that day. If you’re a parent, make sure your school is holding an event and if they aren’t go to walknbike.org to sign up and get more information.

As we roll out of this big celebration there are a lot of great things happening in the coming years for the Eugene SRTS program. Over this past year we’ve built up a strong team of City, 4J, University, health, and community members. We’ve received our second grant cycle from ODOT and will be working on some exciting projects over the next couple of years including a resource kit for schools on how to start an SRTS program, an expanded bike education program (with a new trailer to transport a fleet of bikes), a new website with Safe Route Maps and other resources, continued signature bike events and fundraisers, more work with the city to make our streets inviting to more types of bike riders and pedestrians (like families and young children), and expanded work with the school districts to create policies that encourage active modes of transportation.

We’re excited about the possibilities as we work to get the next generation enraptured and educated about biking and walking and we hope you are too! There are ways you can help; volunteer for bike education community rides, come out to fundraising rides, bring your family down for Kidical Mass, write letters to the editor, city staff, and elected officials to tell them you’d like streets that work for all road users, start an SRTS program at your school, spread the word, or simply walk or bike to where your going; it’s not only good role modeling, it’s crazy fun!

2008-09-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

Walk
+ Bike to School Day is Wednesday, October 8^th

and
we’re joining in the fun!

Download this flier and/or make changes

on GoogleDocs:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfpk6b2_2hd7n3sd6

Join millions of
students & thousands of schools from across the world who will be
walking or biking to school on this day!

Bike Blended Smoothies at Neighborhood Mural Painting.jpg

2008-07-24T07:03:00.001-07:00

Bike Blended Smoothies at Neighborhood Mural Painting.jpg
Originally uploaded by shanerh

2008-04-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

Save the Dates:

UofO Bike Fair, May 2nd at the EMU from 10-4.

Kidical Mass, May 16th (National Bike-to-Work Day!).

Meet at 6pm at Monroe Park (10th & Monroe).

Then we'll ride to Ben & Jerry's near 28th & Willamette.

Bike Day (at the Science Factory), June 7th, 10am to 3pm. Group rides start earlier in the day. Outdoor bike events FREE. SRTS will be there mixing it up with the Bike Blender!

Blackberry JAMboree, September 6th, A community ride- more soon.

Blackberry bRamble, September 7th

Bike Ed Courses throughout the summer- check here.

Getting the RPMs up!

2008-04-29T10:22:00.001-07:00

Getting the RPMs up!
Originally uploaded by shanerh

It was Walk & Roll Day at Roosevelt. During lunch I had the students blending some smoothies, a big hit.
We'll have one more Walk & Roll Day this Friday and give out some prizes for students biking or walking to school!
We might also kick off the Freiker Program....

2008-02-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

Just back from our first meeting for the Eugene SRTS (group/coalition/team/council/?). We have a really great group of people energized and ready to create a sustainable and productive organization that increases biking and walking to and from school.

I'll do another post with an overview of our vision and goals after our next meeting as we firm things up. In my research and note writing after the meeting I came across this amazing little video from Eugene in 1972. It shows that what we are doing is nothing new AND that major change CAN happen. Just look at the different cycling infrastructure that was implemented soon after this movie and continues with us today. It's about six minutes and this is just part one, I'll put a link to part two below this one.

I'll see if I can get ahold of the video and make it one of the films for the "Transportation Film Fest" that we are talking about. I had an idea for the fest in relation to SRTS too.... getting kids to produce Appropriate Transport themed films (anything from bmx/freestyle riding, instructional, skateboard clips, to strict transportation films). I know some kids at CAT already have done some.

Here's the video, again, wow:

You can see the other part at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3G_f1pjncc&feature=related

HEY Move and other ideas

2008-02-11T07:11:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow the newly forming Eugene SRTS Committee is meeting. One of my first thoughts is in the name. Though I've really grown to like the Safe Routes to School name (I thought it was a little boring at first) I think the group forming now needs something more than SRTS Committee. I'd like to see it be more of an action group whereas committee just has that sound of languidness and if there is anything a group advocating for more active youth doesn't want to be it is languid!

Some brainstorm ideas to kick us off:

The Eugene SRTS Posse

SRTS Peloton

GUMMY (Group United for More Mobile Youth)

HEY Move (Helping Eugene Youth Move)

Eugene FARTS (Fun and Active Routes To School)- hey kids love farts!

Okay, this is getting a little out of control! How about something a little more 'safe'.

Eugene SRTS Council

SRTS Action Group

Walk & Roll to School Group

So those are some ideas to kick us off, then once we get a good name it's time to really dig in and take some action. Next post... which way do we go?

The energy that was created by the Eugene Bike Summit for SRTS in Eugene was exciting and I hope we can keep that up that momentum!

Lumber Load

2008-02-07T15:34:00.001-08:00

Lumber Load
Originally uploaded by shanerh

On the way home from School the other day I picked up a bit of lumber.

2008-02-03T21:04:00.001-08:00

Starting out a new blog about the Safe Routes to School scene.

Based in Eugene Oregon where some of the first grassroots Safe Routes to School programs were started (and continue to flourish today) we'll cover issues related to local, national, and international walking and biking to school programs.

Stay tuned for more!