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Last week, Camie talked to the folks at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition about a new grant that will boost their Safe Routes to School activities. Just a few states to the north, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington is also enhancing its SRTS programming by expanding the concept to a new audience.

Thanks to a two-year grant from the Federal Highway Administration, the Bicycle Alliance is launching Go By Bike — an initiative that targets adult bicycle education at community colleges and elementary schools. According to the latest issue of the Bicycle Alliance newsletter, The Advocate, the program will:

• Add 10 to 20 hours of bike safety and maintenance curriculum to existing physical education and health courses taught at community colleges in Central Puget Sound
• Offer parent-education course at elementary schools
• And provide a Web-based forum to augment both curricula

“In one of the programs, I’ll work directly with parents of students at two elementary schools to teach them safe bicycling, encourage bicycling and encourage them to bicycle with their children,” Josh Miller, an urban planning specialist who was hired to lead the program, explained. “In the other program, I’ll be working with four colleges to help them develop safe cycling courses. This will include collaborative curriculum development, assisting with institutionalizing bicycle education programs at each college and mentoring the teachers who will teach the courses.”

The Bicycle Alliance hopes the initiative will add a new dimension to proven programming and impact multiple generations of potential active commuters.

“By incorporating an adult element, Go By Bike will take Safe Routes to School to the next level,” Miller added. “It will go a long way toward getting parents to buy into the concept and trust their kids to bike responsibly.”

Stay tuned to the Bicycle Alliance blog or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to learn more.