Safe Routes to School for Rural Communities 2-Part Webinar Series

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs can succeed in rural areas. But ensuring that schoolchildren can get the benefits of walking and bicycling to school in rural communities requires wrestling with challenges and barriers that may be different than in other areas. In the first part of this webinar, we will go over the needs and benefits of SRTS  in rural areas, safety education and partnership opportunities, challenges that may arise, specific approaches, and showcase successful rural examples. The second part of the webinar series will focus on the infrastructure side of SRTS in rural communities, and the variety of safety program elements that will enhance walking and biking safety for children and families.

SRTS is a statewide program, funded by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), whose goal is to make it safer for more children to walk and bike to school. This training is being brought to you by FDOT through the Florida Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Center. The Florida LTAP Center provides quality training, technical assistance, & technology transfer to the Florida local transportation workforce.

Learning Objectives:

✔ Define rural and low-income communities.
✔ Describe school transportation in rural communities.
✔ Identify the barriers of walking and biking to school in rural communities.
✔ Describe the partnership for active transportation at rural schools.
✔ Provide safety education and encouragement program examples at rural schools.
✔ Describe some of Florida’s best practices with SRTS in rural communities.

Part 1 – Education and Encouragement (5/18/2022): Session one will define rural communities and discuss school transportation options for those students. We will discuss how to build partnerships to help encourage active transportation while also focusing on safety.

Part 2 – Infrastructure and Barriers (5/25/2022): Session two will discuss the infrastructure and challenges in rural areas as it relates to SRTS. We will also discuss site assessment, stakeholder engagement, and planning for the future.

This webinar series is provided at no cost and will award a certificate to those fully attending and completing the webinar. Professional Development Hours (1.5 PDHs) will be provided to those that request these during registration. A total of 3.0 PDHs can be earned for fully attending both sessions.

Please note – space for this webinar is limited, and Florida local agencies are being given first priority!

Instructor Bios:

Ruth L. Steiner, Ph.D. is a professor and director of the Center for Health and the Built Environment in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and an affiliate faculty in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) and the Transportation Institute (UFTI) at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the coordination of transportation and land use, with a particular focus on planning for all modes of transportation and its impact on communities, the environment, and public health. Her current research is on the impact of school siting, school transportation and land development patterns on children’s travel, transportation and aging, the changing pattern of travel among millennials, impacts of new transportation technologies on transportation systems, equity in planning, and the incorporation of risk into long-range transportation planning. She is co-author of Energy Efficiency and Human Activity: Global Trends and Prospects (Cambridge University Press, 1992) and author of over one hundred book chapters, journal articles, reviews and research reports. She has served on the Pedestrian Committee, Transportation and Land Development Committee and Transportation History Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Scientific Committee of the World Congress on Transportation Research Society (WCTRS).

Jason Jackman is a Senior Research Associate with the University of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR). For over 14 years, he has managed programs such as Tampa’s Safe Routes to School program, as well as other bicycle and pedestrian safety programs throughout the State of Florida. He is a safety advocate and enjoys meeting and working with community partners who share an interest in transportation safety. Mr. Jackman holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Florida.