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Entries tagged: America Walks

Last week, America Walks released a document that represents its first steps toward making the United States a great place to be a pedestrian. For the national coalition, that journey will start with a strong presence in Washington, DC.

Based on the input of the organization’s steering committee and a group of 25 walking leaders, the new Federal Walking Policy Platform lays out three policy shifts that will make streets safer, healthier and more cost-effective for, not just walkers, but all roadway users.

• Core Policy 1: Improve pedestrian safety. To enhance walking safety, America Walks proposes changes to the Highway Safety Improvement Program and calls on the US DOT to “conduct a national campaign emphasizing the need to protect vulnerable road users… by reducing automobile speeds in high-crash corridors and special zones.”

• Core Policy 2: Develop performance measures and improve data collection related to walking. America Walks will push for performance measures and benchmarks for walking at the federal, state and local level; robust investments to collect and analyze walking trends, routes and issues; and traffic models that forecast and include the benefits of pedestrian travel in project planning.

• Core Policy 3: Incorporate health-related outcomes in transportation policy, planning and funding programs. America Walks will advocate for a clear, inter-agency alignment of health and transportation objectives, pushing for “public health criteria to be integrated into state and regional transportation planning and decision-making” and for federal agencies to set financial incentives for state DOTs to incorporate health planning in the development of new projects.

What do those broad goals mean for the near term? Most notably, America Walks will help lead the charge to protect dedicated federal funding for biking and walking programs, including Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. The national coalition will also strongly support federal complete streets legislation and a “Fix-It First” approach to transportation spending.

Inspired? Read the full document.

Have the resume to help? America Walks is seeking a Campaign Director to lead its efforts to get this platform implemented. Click here for the full job description.

America Walks is conducting a National Walking Survey to learn more about who walks and why we walk - and the deadline is June 3.

The survey will help walking advocates understand what motivates avid walkers and what keeps others from walking more. When the data is analyzed, America Walks will let us know what they’ve learned and how we can all use the results to promote walking in America.

Thank you to the hundreds of folks who have already taken the survey - more than 5,400 people have participated thus far! This survey will take just five minutes to complete but your feedback will be vital in helping us shape future policies and campaigns for walking.

Please help the Alliance and America Walks by taking the National Walking Survey today. The deadline is June 3!

Just this week, America Walks kicked off its National Walking Survey to learn more about who walks and why we walk.

The survey will help walking advocates understand what motivates avid walkers and what keeps others from walking more. When the data is analyzed, America Walks will let us know they’ve learned and how we can use the results to promote walking in America.

Help the Alliance and America Walks by taking the National Walking Survey today. This survey will take just five minutes to complete. Results are anonymous and your feedback is vital in helping us shape future policies and campaigns for walking.

Help the survey go viral: Post it, forward it, Facebook it, Tweet it! Thanks in advance for your participation!

Although I was tied up in a different meeting and wasn’t able to attend myself, I know this week’s Mutual Aid call was quite a success: I could hear the conversation going strong even as I sat in another room.

To jumpstart the important dialogue on “Lobbying: Do’s and Don’ts for Advocacy Organizations,” we invited two experienced panelists to join our second Mutual Aid call of 2011. Nayantara Mehta is a Senior Counsel at the Alliance for Justice, and Scott Bricker, a longtime bike-ped advocate, currently serves as the campaign manager for America Walks.

During the hour-long discussion with more than 20 advocates from across the country, they shared some great tips on tax law and lessons learned from firsthand experience.

Lucky for me, and others who weren’t able to make it, our communications intern, Camie Rodan, captured the key highlights from the call. Check out this helpful Tip Sheet now uploaded to our Resource Library. If you were able to attend, keep it on hand as an inspirational cheat sheet. And don’t miss our calls coming up in March.

Register now for:

• Countering Resistance
• Planning Effective Bike to Work Events

I honestly expected to sleepwalk through the Equal Footing Summit.

The half-day visioning session for America Walks this past September came on the heels of the Alliance Leadership Retreat. It was shoehorned between the end of the Pro Walk Pro Bike conference and the start of Interbike in Las Vegas. I’m not going to lie; I was more than a little fried.

Maybe it was the incredible, unparalleled energy of Mark Fenton. Maybe it was the interactive format of the session. But the Equal Footing Summit turned out to be the most energizing four hours I spent in Chattanooga.

I wasn’t alone in my assessment. And the action is just getting started.

Last month, America Walks released its new Strategic Campaign Plan, which notes, “The Equal Footing Summit was a powerful event that will shape the future of walking in America.” That summit was the first step in an exciting re-launch of the pedestrian advocacy organization and the 11-page campaign plan is the blueprint for moving forward. Today is the last day to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

“America Walks is transformed with a new mission, vision and organizational structure,” the document promises. What does that mean exactly? Here are the highlights:

• The group is giving every individual American the chance to connect with the campaign by adding their signature to the 2020 Vision Statement. By 2012, America Walks hopes, 50,000 individuals will have signed on to the goal of creating “streets and neighborhoods [that] are safe and attractive public places that encourage people of all ages, abilities, ethnicities and incomes to walk for exercise, recreation and transportation.”

• The organization plans to build a unified national voice for walking by shifting from a membership-based organization, with 26 member organizations, to a broad coalition, with 500 partners by the end of 2011.

• America Walks will have a visible presence in Washington, DC — creating a federal walking policy platform and hiring full-time staff to advance its priorities in the halls of Congress.

• The organization won’t just act as a clearinghouse for information, but advance specific campaigns to promote innovative programs, including efforts to reduce automobile speeds and enhance access to transit for seniors.

“Over the past 50 years, our nation has systematically engineered walking out of daily life,” Mindy Craig, America Walks president, writes in the introduction. “To shift this paradigm, we need a broad-based, focused voice to fund and initiate national and local actions to improve walking in America… We hope to enlist you as an ally in advancing walking in your community, business, organization or area of impact. ”

The Alliance has signed on as an ally. I’ve added my name to 2020 Vision Statement, too. Have you?

Click here to read the plan, give your .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and add your support.