Denver Safe Routes to School 5-Year Action Plan Virtual Event

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Welcome to the Safe Routes to School 5-Year Action Plan Virtual Event

HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS EVENT:

  • Click on the Next arrow (→) at the bottom right of each page to advance to the next page.
  • Click on the Previous arrow (←) at the bottom left side of each page to return to the previous page.
  • The pages are intended to be viewed in order to provide information about the study. However, you may use the tabs on the left side of the page to select any page. Blue tabs are informational, and green* tabs are where you can provide your input.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

  • Click through all the slides to learn more about the Safe Routes to School Program and the 5-Year Action Plan.
  • Help us prioritize what areas you believe the action plan should focus on.
  • Submit a general comment using the comment form in the upper right-hand corner.
  • Your participation will directly impact multimodal choices and investments throughout the city.
A group of young students walking together to school.

Thank you for joining our online event!

The purpose of this event is to help you learn more about Denver’s Safe Routes to School Program and the upcoming 5-year Action Plan, with the opportunity to provide your feedback along the way.

Before we begin

Help us understand your interest in the Denver’s Safe Routes to School by answering the following questions:

What is the Denver Safe Routes to School Program?

The Denver Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program serves school communities by improving walking and biking conditions and creating safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for students to walk, bicycle, and roll to and from school. The program is aligned with the national SRTS movement which is guided by the 6 E’s.

Engagement

All Safe Routes to School initiatives should begin by listening to students, families, teachers, and school leaders and working with existing community organizations, and build intentional, ongoing engagement opportunities into the program structure.

Equity

Ensuring that Safe Routes to School initiatives are benefiting all demographic groups, with particular attention to ensuring safe, healthy, and fair outcomes for low-income students, students of color, students of all genders, students with disabilities, and others.

Engineering

Creating physical improvements to streets and neighborhoods that make walking and bicycling safer, more comfortable, and more convenient.

Encouragement

Generating enthusiasm and increased walking and bicycling for students through events, activities, and programs.

Education

Providing students and the community with the skills to walk and bicycle safely, educating them about benefits of walking and bicycling, and teaching them about the broad range of transportation choices.

Evaluation

Assessing which approaches are more or less successful, ensuring that programs and initiatives are supporting equitable outcomes, and identifying unintended consequences or opportunities to improve the effectiveness of each approach.

What is the Denver SRTS 5-Year Action Plan?

We are currently working on developing a SRTS 5-year action plan that will serve as a roadmap for the City and County of Denver, school communities, and our external partner organizations to use, providing key strategies and implementation plans to get students to and from school safely.

OUR VISION

To provide Denver school transportation choices that are safe, fun, convenient and equitable, which support healthier, happier, and more successful students and thriving communities.

OUR MISSION

Denver Safe Routes to School serves school communities to create safe and equitable places and opportunities that enable physical activity, lower the obesity rate and risk while traveling to and from school.

What is the emphasis of the SRTS Action Plan?

We are developing goals and strategies around the following eight emphasis areas of the Action Plan. An emphasis area is a topic that the action plan will focus on when developing goals and strategies.

Click on each emphasis area for more details.

Vision: Building a transportation network that enhances safety for students and their caregivers to make their trips to and from school by any transportation mode.

Example Goal: To have zero crashes that result in a fatality or serious injury involving youth under the age of 18 in the City and County of Denver by 2026.

Vision: Permanent funding provided annually for planning, engineering, education, and programming to improve Safe Routes to School with priority for the highest-need schools.

Example Goal: Increase the number of schools submitting CDOT Safe Routes to School infrastructure grant applications by xx% by 2026.

Vision: The city and external partners will be innovative and align policies and procedures across all departments to support the implementation of the Five-Year Safe Routes to School Action Plan.

Example Goal: Over a 3-year cycle, reach all K-5 students in the City and County of Denver with safe walking and bicycling education.

Vision: Creating a Safe Routes to School program that is championed and driven by external partners and values and includes the contributions of all members of the school and local community in Safe Routes to School planning and implementation.

Example Goal: Establish a micro-grant program by 2023 that pays community members to help lead the development of school travel plans.

Vision: Every neighborhood provides safe streets and trails for walking, biking, and rolling to school which promote outdoor play, self-confidence, physical and mental well-being, and community connections.

Example Goal: Increase the combined rate of student walking and biking to school to xx% by 2026.

Vision: A city where caregivers have the freedom to select the school that best suits their child and this choice does not limit the viability and convenience to carpool, ride a bus, walk, bike, or roll to and from school.

Example Goal: At schools with a high percentage of students traveling from outside of the neighborhood or greater than half a mile away from the school, increase the combined rate of students/caregivers reporting that a portion of their trip to/from school included walking, rolling or biking to xx% by 2026.

Vision: We envision thriving school communities where students and their caregivers have reduced obesity rates, improved mental health, and more success academically.

Example Goal: Increase the rate of K-5 students participating in bicycling education programs to xx% by 2026

Vision: No matter what neighborhood you live in and no matter your socio-economic background, everyone in the city has access to the physical and mental health benefits of safe walking, biking, and rolling to and from school.

Example Goal: Install 20 traffic calming or safe arterial crossing projects within ½ mile of schools in the Equity Index Areas of Need by 2026.

What emphasis areas are most important to you?

Identifying what strategies work best for each school

For us to identify which strategies will work best for each of Denver’s 300+ schools, we assigned a typology to each school using existing travel, safety, and infrastructure data. A typology is another word for classification. Each school will be assigned a typology which will help us and our partners focus on the strategies that are most relevant to each type of school. There are three different typologies: type of school trip, traffic safety concerns, and multimodal infrastructure needs.

1 Type of School Trip

A circle icon with 8 surrounding arrows within said circle. All arrows point to an icon of a school.

Neighborhood Schools

The majority of students likely live within walking, rolling, or biking distance.

A circle icon with 8 surrounding arrows. Two start within the circle. Two start on the circle's edge. Four start outside of the circle. All arrows point to an icon of a school.

Community Schools

Some students live within walking, rolling, or biking distance, but many do not.

A circle icon with 8 surrounding arrows. All the arrows start in various locations within and outside of the circle. All arrows point to an icon of a school.

Regional Schools

Few students live within walking, rolling, or biking distance, and includes private schools.

2 Traffic Safety Concerns

Safety is measured by analyzing crashes involving youth age 18 or younger within a 0.5 mile radius of each school and proximity to DOTI's High Injury Network.

Based upon this analysis schools were categorized as having high, medium, or low traffic safety concerns.

Three words in verticle order reading high, medium, and then low. Two arrows representing both traffic safety concerns and multimodal infrastructure needs both point to high.

3 Multimodal Infrastructure Needs

The existing and planned walking and biking infrastructure within the vicinity of each school was assessed by analyzing existing and planned bicycle facilities, sidewalks, crosswalks, signalized intersections, and enhanced crossings.

Based upon this analysis schools were categorized as having high, medium, or low multimodal infrastructure needs

Stay Involved!

Thank you for ranking the emphasis areas, we are working with stakeholders to brainstorm strategies for the plan and will use your input to prioritize them to and make a plan that we will all benefit from.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The project team will be reviewing your feedback and analyzing existing data to develop a 5-Year Action Plan including strategies that will make all modes of transportation to and from school more comfortable for students, whether they are walking, biking, rolling, busing, carpooling, or driving. A draft of the 5-Year Action Plan will be available Summer 2021.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Denver SRTS program or 5-Year Action Plan, visit the website.

To provide additional feedback about the specific school your child attends, please visit the Parent Survey.

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LEAVE A COMMENT OR QUESTION

Click on the comment box in the upper right corner to leave a comment or questions for the project team

Next Steps

  • Create goals and strategies for each emphasis area and categorize them by the 6 E’s
  • Develop and present the 5-Year Action Plan
  • Coordinate with schools and other stakeholders to identify funding and implement strategies within the 5-Year Action Plan
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