Support Active Children! Ask your legislators to support Safe Routes to Schools in Minnesota

Do you remember walking to and from school, uphill, both ways in the snow? We sure do! Unfortunately, most of today’s children won’t be able to pass on this memory to their children because they aren’t walking to or from school. 43% of kids who live less than a mile from their school are driven to and from school each day.

Ask your legislators to support Safe Routes to Schools in Minnesota

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a national and international movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from schools. The goal of the program is to get more kids walking and biking to school, which can play a critical role in reversing the alarming nationwide trend toward childhood obesity and inactivity.

State legislation, SF 1439/HF 1429, would help Minnesota build the infrastructure needed to give more children the choice to bike or walk to school.

Take Action NOW! Ask your legislators to support Safe Routes to Schools in Minnesota

Studies show that children who walk and bicycle to school are more physically active, have lower body mass index scores, lower obesity levels and are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than students who are driven or bused to school. It’s unfair to expect and encourage children to be more physically active without providing them an opportunity and safe environment to incorporate exercise into their daily routines.

The Safe Routes to School bills (SF 1439/HF 1429) are being heard in both the Minnesota House and Senate Transportation Committees this week. They would allow for the sale and issuing of $3 million in bonds for capital investment towards walking/biking infrastructure improvements. In the last federal funding cycle MNDOT received 82 applications from local schools requesting $23 million but only $3.8 million was available and awarded to 16 applicants through the federal program.

Send a message TODAY and ask your legislators to support Safe Routes to Schools

Thank you for advocating for Safe Routes to Schools in Minnesota. Later this week, you will receive a message from Clarissa Garcia asking you to send a message to Congress to protect Safe Routes to Schools funding on the national level if you haven’t already done so. The elimination of the federal Safe Routes to Schools program would reverse twenty years of progress in making streets safer for people and set us back in the fight against childhood obesity. Thank you in advance for your immediate action on this issue as well.

Thank you for your help in building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Your MN Advocacy Team,
Anne, Justin, Ngia and Rachel