What is the ASRTS Program?
|
Active and Safe Routes to School is
a program encouraging the use of active modes of transportation
to and from school. There are many program benefits, which
include:
• increased physical activity
for children and youth
• a healthier lifestyle for
the whole family
• less traffic congestion
around schools
• safer, calmer streets and
neighbourhoods
• improved air quality and
a clean environment
The Active and Safe Routes to School
program is flexible and can be tailored
to meet the specific needs of your school and community. Program
components include neighbourhood walkabouts, transportation
surveys, walking clubs (e.g. Walking Wednesdays/Footloose Fridays),
walking/cycling school buses for children with adult supervision
for safety and traffic awareness, no-idling zones and active
transportation events including Clean Air Day, the Commuter
Challenge and International Walk to School Week.
Manitoba's Active and Safe Routes to
School Program is a member of the
Canadian Active and Safe Routes to School Partnership.
|
|
RCM will be disseminating the Child and Youth Friendly Land-Use and Transportation Planning Guidelines for Manitoba. For more information click here
|
Ten Easy Steps to ASRTS Success!
Getting started is easy and Resource Conservation Manitoba is
here to help! To initiate the ASRTS Program at your school,
try these ten steps to success:
Step 1:
Identify issues (e.g. school would like to improve on traffic
management and provide kids with safe, active alternatives).
Step 2:
School, Parent Council, teachers and students decide to support
an active transportation program for their school.
Step 3:
Work with community members to establish
an ASRTS Team (e.g. Administrators, parents, teachers, students,
community police, community traffic engineers) to champion
the Program.
Step 4:
Find out more about your community:
• Collect
baseline data through student surveys, parent surveys, and
mapping.
• Consult
with community experts.
Step 5:
Assess and share findings with school community.
Step 6:
• Start
a Walking Wednesdays or Footloose Fridays Club.
• Establish
volunteer group of "Walking School Bus Drivers".
• Develop
walking, biking and school site traffic safety strategies.
• Determine
the best routes to school using collected community data.
• Develop "Street Smarts" strategies.
Step 7:
Build on Program in the school:
• Can
incorporate ASRTS
into classroom projects.
• Can
provide pedestrian and cycling traffic safety information through
presentations, etc.
Step 8:
Celebrate your success:
• Have
a kick off celebration and invite local media.
• Promote
the ASRTS Program
through the school newsletter and website.
• Have
parents and students write articles.
• Have
spot in the school to post updates, news clippings and contests
to keep students interested and having fun.
• Participate
in community events.
Step 9:
Evaluate the Program:
• Evaluation
can occur once your Program has been up and running for awhile,
e.g. at the 6 months to a year mark.
• Based
on evaluation, the school can make changes to better the Program.
• Maintain
the Program.
Step 10:
Have Fun!
|
|
Get involved?
It's Safe - Teachers and students
pick the designated safe route to school and volunteers accompany
the Walking/Cycling School Bus to ensure that children arrive
to and from school safely. Walking/Cycling School Buses have
the potential to greatly reduce the risk of vehicle related
accidents and injuries near schools. By having more people
walking through our communities, it's also a great way to
reduce crime and take back our neighbourhoods!
It's Active - Canadian children
are not getting enough physical activity! By participating
in the ASRTS Program, children get
a chance to build exercise into their day by walking or cycling
their way to and from school. Regular physical activity can
help children maintain a healthy weight, reduce anxiety and
stress, enhance their self image and even their academic performance!
It's Green - With up to 50% of
children being driven to and from school each day, vehicle
speeds, dangerous traffic congestion, and unhealthy pollution
have become serious problems near schools. By reducing the
number of cars travelling to and from schools, children can
enjoy safer streets and cleaner air! And since the car is
the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba,
by participating, children and parents can take part in reducing
their impact on our global climate!
It's Easy - Participating
is as easy as walking or riding a bike! Students enjoy the
physical activity while parents enjoy the convenience. The
ASRTS Program is a great way to involve
parents, families and communities in school activities and
children have a great opportunity to learn more about the
community in which they live!
|
|
ASRTS Resources
|
ASRTS PDF Newsletter: Off
on the Right Foot - Winter 2008
Making the Case for Active and Safe
Routes to School - download
PDF
How To Organize a Walking School Bus
- download
PDF
Teacher Resource - Want to build Active
and Safe Routes into your curriculum? Here is a great resource
for teachers!! - visit
website
School Travel Planning
|
|
ASRTS Partners
Traffic Safety Education and Consulting of Manitoba and Resource Conservation Manitoba’s Active and Safe Routes to School Program have joined efforts to make schools a safer place to walk or bike.
Our objective is to reach out to school divisions, school administrators and PAC groups to assist in resolving all school traffic safety concerns across Manitoba. At absolutely no cost, we will assist schools in developing a comprehensive School Travel Plan and will come out and assess the safety and congestion around schools to help ensure proper traffic control is in place, infrastructure is developed and coordinated programs like Walking School Buses are in place to help students get to and from school safely. For more information please visit: www.tsecmb.com/NEWSLETTER.html.
www.walktoschool.org (IWALK
in the USA)
International Walk to School in
the USA is
maintained by the USA’s National Centre for Safe
Routes [website],
this page has great tips and resources for planning walk to
school events during IWALK week and throughout the year!
Green Communities
Green Communities Active and Safe Routes
to School program,
designed for schools in Ontario, is a comprehensive and adaptable
program that engages all community partners in finding solutions
that meet their needs.
Way
to Go! School Program
The Way To Go! School Program
is a program of The RoadSense Team
of British Columbia, a partnership
between the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and the
Autoplan Brokers. The focus of the Way to Go! School Program
is to provide communities and schools with the resources they
need to create safer traffic environments on local streets.
|
|
SAGE Pilot Project
In 2000, RCM began the SAGE Pilot Project. As
part of the pilot, RCM worked with 4 elementary schools in
Winnipeg to launch walk to school initiatives at the participating
schools. Components of the pilot included Neighbourhood Walkabouts,
Transportation Surveys, Walking Clubs (e.g. Walking Wednesdays
Clubs and Footloose Friday Clubs), Walking School Buses and
active transportation events. The Pilot was a huge success
and has built the foundation for RCM's Active and Safe Routes
to School Program. The goal of the Pilot is to build on the
lessons learned and provide resources and support to Manitoba
schools interested in starting an Active
and Safe Routes to School Program
in their community.
Participating pilot schools included:
Arthur E. Wright School,
1520 Jefferson Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2P 1K1
Arthur E. Wright School is a K-8 school in the Seven Oaks School
Division. Arthur E. Wright has participated in the Winnipeg
Commuter Challenge and International Walk to School Day since
2001 and is no stranger to walking school buses. To celebrate
the Challenge, Arthur E. Wright organizes 4 walking school
buses that converge at the front of the school on Clean Air
Day.
To learn more about Arthur E. Wright School, visit
their website.
Beaumont School,
5880 Betsworth Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3R 0J7
Beaumont School is in the Assiniboine South School Division.
Beaumont is a designated Earth School under the SEEDS Foundation's
Green Schools Program. To earn Earth School status, Beaumont
has completed over 1000 environmental projects! Beaumont hosted
their first Walking Wednesday on May 8th. The event was a success
and a great introduction to the SAGE Pilot Program!
To learn more about Beaumont School, visit
their website.
École Riverbend Community
School, 123 Red River Blvd, Winnipeg,
MB R2V 3X9
École Riverbend Community School is in the Seven Oaks
School Division. 2002 marked Riverbend's first year participating
in International Walk to School Day. Riverbend administration, teachers, students
and parents had such a great time with the active living, healthy environment
event they decided to pilot the SAGE Program and develop a Walking Wednesdays
Club and a Walking School Bus at their school.
Check out the
'Projects' section of their website to learn more about
their involvement in the SAGE Pilot Project and their ongoing
walk to school initiatives.
Linden Meadows School, 335 Lindenwood
Drive East, Winnipeg, MB R3P 2H1
Linden Meadows School is in the Assiniboine South School Division.
2002 marked the first year for participation
in the Winnipeg Commuter Challenge. During the Challenge, students
and staff had a great time celebrating clean air commuting.
Linden Meadows piloted the SAGE Program in the fall of 2002.
They organized Walking Wednesdays, a walking school bus, did
informal traffic counts pre and post events and held Winnipeg's
first ever Toboggan Tuesday!
To learn more about Linden Meadows School, visit
their website.
SAGE Pilot Project Summary Report
- Download
pdf
|
|
S A G E Supporters
RCM thanks the following foundations
and agencies for supporting the SAGE Pilot Project:
The
Winnipeg Foundation
Metcalf
Foundation
EcoAction
Go
for Green
National
Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention
- Community Mobilization Program
Province
of Manitoba
|
|
For more information on the Active
and Safe Routes to School Program in Manitoba, please contact
Resource Conservation Manitoba at:
Resource Conservation Manitoba
3rd Floor - 303 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg,
MB R3B 2B4
Phone: (204) 925-3773
Fax: (204) 942-4207
E-mail address: asrts@resourceconservation.mb.ca
|
|