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Welcome to the C-U Safe Routes to School Project!
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The C-U Safe Routes to School Project (C-U SRTS Project) is an organization with representatives from the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD), Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), C-U Public Health District, Urbana and Champaign planning, engineering and law enforcement, Champaign County Bikes, Urbana and Champaign School Districts, as well as other educators, parents, and community members. The project came about after four years of organizing Walk & Bike to School Day in Champaign and Urbana schools and deciding that there was more that could be done to educate the community on pedestrian and bicycle safety issues.
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Events + Announcements
Evan Alvarez announced as new C-U SRTS Project Co-Chair!
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Evan Alvarez will be continuing his work with the C-U SRTS Project as the new Co-Chair, working with current Chair Cynthia Hoyle. Evan has been a longtime partner and and advocate of C-U SRTS. He has helped with hosting bike rodeos, running the Earn-a-Bike Program, communicating with school districts, and assisting with bike maintenance. He currently serves as MTD's Special Services Manager, where he oversees day-to-day operations of services such as C-CARTS, paratransit, and SafeRides. He also assists with outreach to local school districts about student bus travel education and is the district's web accessibility coordinator.
Evan will be kicking off his role with planning and running this year's Walk n' Roll to School Day! |
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Smart Cycling: Traffic Skills 101 - Saturday, August 20, 2022
The Smart Cycling TS 101 course will teach you emergency maneuvers, roadway safety skills and more. The 9-hour course is organized into two parts:
Part 1: 4.5-hour online classroom instruction available for free at bikeed.org
Part 2: 4.5-hour on-bike instruction includes: basic bike handling skills, emergency maneuvers, and a supervised road ride to practice new skills
Students need to provide their own bikes and helmets. Helmets are required gear. Registration fee includes materials and manual. Scholarships are available, please contact: choyle@mtd.org
To access the location, you can take the MTD 110 Ruby bus from Lincoln Square to the University/Cottage Grove bus stop. Free parking is available if you drive.
If inclement weather results in cancellation of the class, it will be rescheduled for another date.
Price: $30
Registration closes: Friday, August 19, 2022
Date & Time: Saturday, August 20, 2022 - 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: MTD Training Facility, 1207 E. University Ave, Urbana, IL, 61802
Contact: Cynthia Hoyle (Email: choyle@mtd.org, Phone: 217-649-6505)
Part 1: 4.5-hour online classroom instruction available for free at bikeed.org
Part 2: 4.5-hour on-bike instruction includes: basic bike handling skills, emergency maneuvers, and a supervised road ride to practice new skills
Students need to provide their own bikes and helmets. Helmets are required gear. Registration fee includes materials and manual. Scholarships are available, please contact: choyle@mtd.org
To access the location, you can take the MTD 110 Ruby bus from Lincoln Square to the University/Cottage Grove bus stop. Free parking is available if you drive.
If inclement weather results in cancellation of the class, it will be rescheduled for another date.
Price: $30
Registration closes: Friday, August 19, 2022
Date & Time: Saturday, August 20, 2022 - 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: MTD Training Facility, 1207 E. University Ave, Urbana, IL, 61802
Contact: Cynthia Hoyle (Email: choyle@mtd.org, Phone: 217-649-6505)
Earn-a-Bike 2022 Program - Monday, July 11 to Thursday, July 14
During the week of July 11, C-U SRTS hosted the four-day 2022 Earn-a-Bike Program with Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club in Champaign. We had a total of six students participate and had the privilege to teach them bicycle building, bike maintenance skills, and important traffic skill maneuvers. We concluded the program by going out for two fun rides on the U of I campus and in the community which featured delicious ice cream treats. All of the students who completed the program were able to take their bikes home and were awarded certificates.
We would like to give special thanks to the staff at Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club, Champaign County Bikes, BR Bikes and Repairs, The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign, MTD maintenance crew and planning staff, our LCIs, and all of our other C-U SRTS volunteers for making the program fun and a success!
Our report will be released soon!
We would like to give special thanks to the staff at Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club, Champaign County Bikes, BR Bikes and Repairs, The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign, MTD maintenance crew and planning staff, our LCIs, and all of our other C-U SRTS volunteers for making the program fun and a success!
Our report will be released soon!
Smart Cycling TS 101 - Saturday, June 4th, 2022
The June 2022 Smart Cycling TS 101 course was held on Saturday, June 4th, 2022. A total of four students participated and successfully passed the course. They include Theresa Dobbs, Bernabe Romero Santos, Thomas Valencia, and Jake Wagoner.
The 9-hour course was organized into two parts:
Part 1: 4.5-hour online classroom instruction available for free at bikeed.org
Part 2: 4.5-hour on-bike instruction includes: basic bike handling skills, emergency maneuvers, and a supervised road ride to practice new skills
The 9-hour course was organized into two parts:
Part 1: 4.5-hour online classroom instruction available for free at bikeed.org
Part 2: 4.5-hour on-bike instruction includes: basic bike handling skills, emergency maneuvers, and a supervised road ride to practice new skills
Bike & Roll to School Day 2022 - Wednesday, May 4th
Bike & Roll to School Day 2022 was held on Wednesday, May 4th as part of National Bike Month! It was a chilly morning, but we still had plenty of students come to the bike stations and distributed plenty of t-shirts and materials.
Students from several schools in the Urbana and Champaign area biked to school along with parents, teachers and community leaders. Students from Urbana High School’s Project Ignition Club, led by Judy Weber-Jones, assisted with a Bike Station near the Urbana Aquatics Center that morning. Urbana Middle School and Urbana High School Students who took the online Illinois Bike Safety Quiz picked up their free Bike Month t-shirts, reflectors, bike lights, and bike safety information at the bike station. Over 80 Urbana Middle and 200 Urbana High School students have taken the Bike Safety Quiz as part of this program. Urbana Mayor Diane Marline read a proclamation declaring Bike and Roll to School Day in Urbana.
Additionally, Urbana High School Project Ignition Club students Elena Poulosky, Isiah Menard, and Park Mitchell attended the Illinois Student Safety Project Competition (ISSP) in Effingham, IL, the following day. They won Gold Level recognition for the following categories: Illinois Safety School Club of the Year, Best Community Safety Project, Best T-Shirt Award, and Outstanding Youth Safety Student of the Year Award (Park Mitchell). Congratulations on these students for their outstanding work!
We also would like to give a shoutout to our volunteers: Evan Alvarez, Briana Barr, Kara Dudek-Mizel, Audrey Ishii, Rose Kaczmarowski, Gabe Lewis, Jenna Quintana, Dan Saphiere, Charlie Smyth, and Lily Wilcock.
The BRTSD events were organized by the C-U Safe Routes to School Project, Urbana High School Project Ignition, Champaign County Bikes, the City of Urbana, Urbana School District 116, and Champaign Unit 4 School District with support from MTD.
Students biked to the following schools:
Students from several schools in the Urbana and Champaign area biked to school along with parents, teachers and community leaders. Students from Urbana High School’s Project Ignition Club, led by Judy Weber-Jones, assisted with a Bike Station near the Urbana Aquatics Center that morning. Urbana Middle School and Urbana High School Students who took the online Illinois Bike Safety Quiz picked up their free Bike Month t-shirts, reflectors, bike lights, and bike safety information at the bike station. Over 80 Urbana Middle and 200 Urbana High School students have taken the Bike Safety Quiz as part of this program. Urbana Mayor Diane Marline read a proclamation declaring Bike and Roll to School Day in Urbana.
Additionally, Urbana High School Project Ignition Club students Elena Poulosky, Isiah Menard, and Park Mitchell attended the Illinois Student Safety Project Competition (ISSP) in Effingham, IL, the following day. They won Gold Level recognition for the following categories: Illinois Safety School Club of the Year, Best Community Safety Project, Best T-Shirt Award, and Outstanding Youth Safety Student of the Year Award (Park Mitchell). Congratulations on these students for their outstanding work!
We also would like to give a shoutout to our volunteers: Evan Alvarez, Briana Barr, Kara Dudek-Mizel, Audrey Ishii, Rose Kaczmarowski, Gabe Lewis, Jenna Quintana, Dan Saphiere, Charlie Smyth, and Lily Wilcock.
The BRTSD events were organized by the C-U Safe Routes to School Project, Urbana High School Project Ignition, Champaign County Bikes, the City of Urbana, Urbana School District 116, and Champaign Unit 4 School District with support from MTD.
Students biked to the following schools:
- Dr. Howard Elementary School
- Leal Elementary School
- Jefferson Middle School
- Thomas Paine Elementary School
- Urbana Middle School + Urbana High School (in collaboration with the Project Ignition Club)
- Yankee Ridge Elementary School
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Snow Removal Program 2021-2022
C-U SRTS Project is pleased to offer a program to assist schools and neighborhoods in providing students with safe routes to and from school and other destinations during the winter months. The program will run from January to March 2022. The Snow Removal Encouragement Program is intended to increase the number of neighborhood sidewalks that are cleared of snow. It encourages neighbors to clear their sidewalks and driveways of snow so that children, and others, can walk to and from school and to other destinations without walking in the street.
Walk n' Roll to School Day - October 6, 2021
On Wednesday, October 6th, 2021, 8 elementary schools in Urbana and Champaign participated in the Walk n' Roll to School Day (WRTSD). Students walked and biked to school, where they were greeted and encouraged by friends, parents, teachers, U of I student athletes, elected officials, and community members. WCIA 3 News also did a story at the Dr. Williams Elementary event.
Thank you to the following schools for participating and making the event a success:
Thank you to the following schools for participating and making the event a success:
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Urbana
Dr. Williams Elementary King Elementary Leal Elementary Thomas Paine Elementary Urbana Early Childhood School Wiley Elementary Yankee Ridge Elementary |
Champaign
Booker T. Washington Elementary Westview Elementary |
Want to Learn Safety Skills at Home? Use the Online Learning section of our website
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Check out the C-U SRTS Online Learning Package for fun activities!
Etch-a-sketch style Strava Drawings: The Strava app lets users track their bike rides, so some users have been getting creative and using their rides to draw fun pictures. Give it a try!
Practice walking or cycling along routes to school with your kids while streets are calm!
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Bike RodeosYou will be part of a variety of fun tasks including helmet fitting, bicycle safety checks, scanning and signaling that help elementary school children learn and practice safe bicycling skills.
Our bike rodeos include a variety of tasks including helmet fitting, bicycle safety checks, scanning and signaling. We aim to help elementary school children learn and practice safe bicycling skills. We are always looking for helping hands! Your volunteer work will ensure our bike rodeos run smoothly. View details below. |
Risk Watch on Biking and Walking Safety
Risk Watch is a comprehensive injury-prevention curriculum implemented in our local grade schools. The program is designed to help children and families create safer homes and communities by teaching the skills and knowledge to make positive choices about personal safety and well-being.
As one of the "Risk Watch Experts" this year, Safe Route to School Project went into classrooms of Champaign elementary schools co-teaching bicycle and pedestrian safety topics. In our lessons, officers from Champaign Police Department introduced safe walking including using crosswalks, watching for cars, and being visible when walking, while Safe Route to School talked about safe biking - how to fit a helmet, and how to make basic hand signaling. Most importantly, we reinforced the importance of wearing helmets through an exciting "Melon Drop" demonstration. While the Scared Melon was cracked wide open after being dropped from a ladder, The Happy Melon who has a helmet was always sound and firm!
As one of the "Risk Watch Experts" this year, Safe Route to School Project went into classrooms of Champaign elementary schools co-teaching bicycle and pedestrian safety topics. In our lessons, officers from Champaign Police Department introduced safe walking including using crosswalks, watching for cars, and being visible when walking, while Safe Route to School talked about safe biking - how to fit a helmet, and how to make basic hand signaling. Most importantly, we reinforced the importance of wearing helmets through an exciting "Melon Drop" demonstration. While the Scared Melon was cracked wide open after being dropped from a ladder, The Happy Melon who has a helmet was always sound and firm!
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Mode Shift Fact Sheets
You've probably known that bicycling has tons of benefit of keeping our environment green and keeping you in good shape, but do you know riding a bike will also be a complete game changer for you financially? Check our fact sheet to see the all the statistics of bicycling compared with driving, and find your own reason of getting on a bike in this coming spring!
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C-U Safe Route to School project has hosted Walk to School Day in Urbana-Champaign for over ten years, and has received many smiles, laughs, thanks and high-fives along the way. Visit our archived photos to see what happened in previous year's event in Champaign-Urbana.
Parent Resources
Parents, how walkable and bikeable is your community? Take a walk or bike ride and use the checklists below to rate your neighborhood’s walkability and bikeability.
Quick Links
