Funding is now available for both infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects that benefit children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Funds will cover the time period of 10/1/08 - 9/30/09 and are by reimbursement only. Please visit the BMC Safe Routes to School page for more information.

The purposes of the Safe Routes to School Program are:

1. to enable & encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk & bicycle to school;
2. to make walking & bicycling to school a safer & more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy & active lifestyle from an early age; &
3. to facilitate the planning, development & implementation of projects & activities that will improve safety & reduce traffic, fuel consumption & air pollution in the vicinity of schools (within 2 miles).

Learn more at a Grant Applicant Seminar for Safe Routes to School on Thursday, February 21 for potential grantees from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute of Technology in Linthicum, MD. Any agency or organization (non-profit) wishing to apply for federal SRTS funding MUST attend this one day seminar. Deadline for registration is February 8, 2008.

Click to b-more involved!

Mark your calendars! May 16, 2008 is bike to work day. We are currently gearing up to make 2008 our most successful event yet. If you are interested in volunteering, have any new innovative ideas, or would like more information on how to participate, please visit the BMC Bicycle Commuting page or email Amber Blake at ablake@baltometro.org.

Have you visited Hampden lately? How about Fells Point? If so you may have noticed something new. Parking meters have been replaced by functional yet funky bike racks (see photo inset at left). The city of Baltimore has installed over 70 bike racks in Hampden and Fells Point. What are you waiting for...go try them out!

In November, anyone frequenting Catonsville may have noticed the 16 colored bike racks shaped as musical notes. The 'bike-racks-as-art' are situated between the Beltway and the Catonsville Library. To read the full story from the Catonsville Times click here.

 

The One Less Car Bicycle Pedestrian Symposium will take place in Annapolis on February 6th at the Presidents Conference Center of the Miller Senate Office Building. The all day event will focus on the societal, environmental and economic benefits of better accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists in neighborhoods and commercial districts. Policy makers and advocates from around the state attend the symposium to learn what's new, lobby for better bike-ped accommodations and to network with their peers. An awards ceremony for "Excellence in Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning" is scheduled for noon.

To RSVP or for more information visit www.onelesscar.org

Hope to see you there!

Parks and People (the foundation for Baltimore Parks & Recreation) has created a Concept for the Renewal and Use of Parks and Open Space in the City of Baltimore. This vision "unites the city in an integrated system of parks, street trees, community gardens, landscaped boulevards and paths, squares, schoolyards, college campuses, recreation areas, and other public open spaces".

For more information on the concept and to submit comments visit ONE PARK.

e-mail: ablake@baltometro.org

phone: 410-732-0500 Ext. 1030

web: http://www.baltometro.org