The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, was formed in 2005 as a response to the dramatic increase in prevalence of childhood obesity across the nation.
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is a region’s approved list of specific transportation projects mandated by federal law. It serves as a multi-year financial schedule for obligating federal funds to state and local transportation projects. The TIP contains funding information for all modes of transportation including bicycle and pedestrian projects.
I recently had the privilege of speaking at the Fairfax County Bike Summit. It was the first Bike Summit in the county. Fairfax County has come a long way through the work of the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling.
Florida has had great success with Safe Routes to School under SAFETEA-LU, with more than 235 applications ($68.8 million) being funded. The average Safe Routes to School project funded was $292,766. There has been a call for infrastructure applications each fall through spring. Spring 2012 ended the 6th call for projects. These projects will be in the 2017 work program. The average return on these projects was an increase of 22 percent of children walking to and from school. The program works!
There are a number of exciting Safe Routes to Schools initiatives taking place around the state of Mississippi and the momentum continues. The Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program has opened up its fourth funding cycle.
