Safe Routes to Schools
Team Leader Newsletter
February 2004

TEAM LEADER UPDATES

1. Frequent Rider Miles starts March 29th
2. SchoolPool update
3. Team Leader Meeting March 10th 11:30-1 pm
4. Rodeo Painting Party, February 20th

GENERAL NEWS

5. Sales Tax Expenditure Plan Important Meeting February 26th
6. Rodeo Wranglers Needed, Earn $$$
7. Tips for Riding with Kids
8. Featured School of the Month Pleasant Valley, Novato

TEAM LEADER UPDATES

1. Frequent Rider Miles starts March 29th

The fourth annual Frequent Rider miles contest starts March 29th and will run six weeks ending on May 14th. The week of May 17th is Bicycle Commuter week and will be a good time to hold your raffle. Attached please find the updated rules for running the Frequent Rider Miles contest. This year we will count every mode equally, count each way to school, and hold the contest for six weeks instead of eight. Each school is welcome to modify the contest to suit their own needs. Our sponsor, Trek Bicycles will be providing each school with a bike certificates, a backpack, U.S. Postal Team jersey, and other valuable prizes. The following schools have signed up for the contest. If your name does not appear here or you decided not to run the contest, please let us know immediately, as we are ordering the prizes from Trek now.

Bolinas
Dixie
Vallecito
Lagunitas (both campuses)
Neil Cummins
Hall
Edna Maguire
Tam Valley
Mill Valley Middle school
Park, Pleasant Valley, Rancho
Hill
Reed
Bel Aire
Ross
Brookside (both campuses)
Manor
Wade Thomas
Gallinas
Glenwood
St. Patrick
St. Rita

2. SchoolPool update

RIDES has created maps for each school in Mill Valley which shows the location of each student in the school (no specific addresses are used). This visual tool demonstrates how many students live within each neighborhood and gives parents an idea of the number of potential SchoolPool partners available to them. The Mill Valley District will be sending out a e-letter to parents in the school advising them of the program and urging them to sign up. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District will be providing funding for the printing of brochure which is in its final edit and will be available by March 1st. We have also created a sample letter home that will be available to launch the project. If you want more information or would like to bring School Pools to your school, please contact wendi@marinbike.org

3. Team leader Meeting on March 10th 11:30 1pm
San Rafael Community Center Room 2
Childcare, Lunch and Good Conversation Provided

Safe Routes to Schools would like to invite you to a gathering of organizers and minds. We will brainstorm and share experiences, get information on this year’s Frequent Rider Miles Contest and Bike To School Day and learn about new programs such as SchoolPools and a new Treasure Your Neighborhood Poster Contest. We’ll have spare posters to give away and more…

Get ready for the spring and celebrate yourselves and your wonderful efforts to transform your neighborhood with a team leader mixer. We hope that these accommodations provide you with an easier time getting to this fun and important meeting.

4. Rodeo Painting Party February 20th

SR2S is looking for 4-6 volunteers to help do some spring cleaning on our "on the bike challenge" bike rodeo kit on Friday, February 20 from 12-4 pm. Work will mostly include painting, so wear old clothes!

Location will be at 10 Olema Road and light refreshments will be served.
To RSVP please contact Melanie SR2S Outreach Coordinator at 456-3469 ext 5# Melanie@marinbike.org

GENERAL NEWS

5. Sales Tax Expenditure Plan Important Meeting February 26th

The Marin Congestion Management Agency has been working for the last few years in developing a comprehensive transportation plan. In order to fund this plan, a ½ cent sales tax may be placed on the November ballot to fund local bus service, infrastructure improvements, Safe Routes to Schools programs including crossing guards and to complete the carpool lanes through San Rafael. A series of citizens advisory committees have made recommendations on the breakdown for each program. The current draft recommends that 10% of the funds go to Safe Routse to Schools programs, 60% for local buses, 9% for Highway 101, and the remainder for road maintenance. We have requested that the roads portion include capital improvements for schools, such as sidewalks and intersection enhancements. To ensure that your concerns are incorporated into the expenditure plan, attend this meeting on February 26th at 7:30 at the Marin County Board of Supervisors chambers at the civic center. For more information contact: Eric Anderson 456-3469 x4.

6. Rodeo Wranglers Needed, Earn $$$

$15/hour for 10-12 events between March and May plus training

We are looking for cyclists with experience working with children and are familiar with the Safe Routes to Schools Program. Must be available during school hours 7 AM- 4 PM. Shifts are from 1-4 hours with an estimated 10-12 events between March and May plus training. We will be having a mandatory applicant screening and orientation on Saturday, February 28th from 3-5. At this training we will practice setting up and breaking down the "On the Bike Challenge".

Wranglers will assist with loading, transporting, setting, teaching, striking and storing the SR2S "On the Bike Challenge", an on the bike skills course conducted at schools in Marin County.

The objective of the "On the Bike Challenge" is to teach children the importance of seeing, being seen, and remaining in control at all times when riding a bike. This is achieved through a series of bike handling drills taught by experienced cyclists. Please respond to Melanie@marinbike.org

7. Riding with Kids
By Chris Davis, Safe Routes Instructor

When we were kids, once we quit falling over we knew how to ride a bike. These days, as adults, we’re aware that to ride safely we need a complex set of decision-making, problem-solving and communication skills. Some of us were taught street-cycling skills by the local police, in our elementary schools. Today, many parents are hesitant to try to teach these skills to their kids because they seem so complex. Don’t be intimidated; much of what we need to know is common sense, even for kids.

Riding with your kids and teaching them safe riding skills is well worth it. Kids get tremendous benefits from ridingon their own. They gain a higher level of physical fitness; they develop valuable life experience; and they learn greater personal responsibility.

The important thing to remember is our children are not little adults; they may not have developed the physical or cognitive ability to take off on their own, as adults generally have. Remember that your children:

• May have difficulty judging the speed or distance of a moving car
• May have difficulty judging the direction from which a sound is coming
• Assume that because they see a car, it sees them
• Trust that drivers will stop when they are supposed to
• Can’t easily judge motor vehicles’ stopping distances
• Can be easily distracted
• Can be impulsive and impatient
• Are often over confident.

Riding with your children is the only way to be sure they are capable, know the rules of the road and are practicing the best safety strategies. Biking is very high-quality time with your kids for many reasons, particularly if you take advantage of the opportunity to reinforce important safety behaviors.

SR2S teaches second graders how to be Safe Street Crossers. We build on this lesson when we teach fourth-graders biking basics. The SR2S curriculum addresses the leading cause of children’s bike injuries. The behaviors we need to be modeling and practicing with our kids are:

Always wear a properly fitting helmet!

• Helmet should be snug and level, kept adjusted for proper fit
• Chin straps must be fastened

Check for moving cars!

• Before pulling out of a driveway
• When crossing a driveway (kids often ride on the sidewalk)
• When going through an intersection

Obey all traffic laws!

• Stop at all stop signs and obey all traffic lights
• Know what all traffic signs mean, and obey them

Ride on the right!

• Always ride in the same direction as the traffic

Be predictable!

• Swerving, weaving and jumping off curbs may seem like fun, but it’s very dangerous. Drivers don’t expect bicyclists to veer out in front of them.

Communicate with other road users!

• Make eye contact with drivers
• Use hand signals when turning
• Use hand motions to signal to a driver that you want them to go first

It’s worth the wait!

• Do not assume that a driver will obey the law
• Wait until you know it’s safe; let the cars go first. In a contest between a kid and a car, a car will always win.

Obstacles are everywhere!

• Be extra careful around obstacles such as bushes, phone poles and parked cars. Obstacles make it hard to see what’s going on ahead of us, and they hide us from drivers’ views.

Be sure to be seen!

• Wear bright colors
• Attach reflectors, blinky lights, etc., to bikes and backpacks
• Use lights when riding early in the morning or in the evening

8. Featured School of the Month Pleasant Valley, Novato

Children will have a more visible crosswalk at Pleasant Valley School, thanks to the combined efforts of the City of Novato and its public works staff, The Novato Police Department, and Pleasant Valley’s PTA and principal. During the February winter break, a Gateway treatment is being installed in the two crosswalks in front of the school. The Gateway treatment, which consists of bright yellow bollards placed along the crosswalk lines, was suggested by the Novato Police Department. The police have increased enforcement at Pleasant Valley School and other schools during the morning and afternoon rush.

The funding for the Gateway came from Dougherty Health Insurance, George De Salvo and Patty Towns of Coldwell Banker Realtors, the Novato Police Association, and Pleasant Valley parents. City traffic engineers installed the devices. Pleasant Valley combined the installation with a Treasure Your Neighborhood Poster contest, where children drew pictures asking adults to slow down and drive carefully to protect the children. The winning picture will be published in the Novato Advance, and other posters will be displayed in the schools throughout Novato.

A program funded by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and administered by the County of Marin on behalf of the Marin County Congestion Management Agency and the County, Cities and Towns of Marin

Department of Public Works • County of Marin • P. O. Box 4186 • San Rafael, CA 94913-4186