Cupertino Safe Routes to School (SR2S) has launched an exciting new grant program that enables high school students to make a big impact on the environment! The grant is intended to provide funds to promote walking, biking, carpooling, and taking transit to school. Since car exhaust is the biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the City, encouraging students to replace car trips with sustainable modes of transportation can dramatically reduce the City’s carbon emissions.

The High School Student Representatives currently serving on the SR2S Working Group applied for up to $500 per high school to bring Safe Routes to School programming to their schools. The students have some fabulous ideas about how to use the funds. They’ll gather info about how students are getting to school and what the barriers are if they don’t walk or bike, host walk and bike to school days, an afterschool social bike ride, and “Bike Days” featuring commute information, traffic safety presentations, prizes, and possibly a bike repair clinic during lunch.

We are already impressed with the programming these students are bringing to their high schools!

Guest article by Cupertino High School Student Representative: Juliet Shearin

In 2021, local advocacy group Walk-Bike Cupertino ran a Network Prioritization Tool (NPT) to give a better idea of what areas in Cupertino are most in need of bicycle safety improvements. A complete map of the tool’s prioritization of roads (divided into tier priority) can be found here. Overall, the highest priority roads tend to be busy main connectors, while second-highest priority roads — such as Bandley Drive, Greenleaf Drive and Whitney Way — are more diverse.

The tool was developed by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition in collaboration with consulting company Copenhagenize. It takes many different factors into account, including proximity to destinations, danger (such as how many crashes were reported on the routes), existing network connectivity and the need level of the area. Unlike other prioritization methods, the NPT is objective and data-driven, comparing the same criteria for all roads instead of relying on intuition or advocacy from residents to identify high-danger streets. For Cupertino, the emphasis was weighted towards network connectivity and proximity to community centers, schools and jobs to help people more easily get around on a bicycle. A complete methodology of the tool — including detailed descriptions of each weighting criteria — can be found here. SVBC collated data from the US Census, in a process described here.

Walk-Bike Cupertino hopes the results will inform the City’s next combined bicycle-pedestrian master plan, and direct the city’s investment in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. 

Bicycle Pedestrian Commission 

If you are an adult who is passionate about walking or biking, the City needs you! One of the City’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commissioners has resigned, leaving an unscheduled vacancy. The City is initiating a special recruitment to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term, which runs through January 30, 2025.

Apply today to be on Cupertino’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (BPC). As a Commissioner, you will advise City Council on City-funded transportation projects that relate to bicycle and pedestrian traffic, parking, education, and recreation within Cupertino.

Here are the dates to know:

• Deadline to apply: 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 15
• Applicant interview date: 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26

For information about the BPC and how to apply, visit:

https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/commissions/bicycle-pedestrian-commission

Are you passionate about sustainable transportation? Would you like to make a difference reducing traffic congestion and enhancing safety around your school? Would you like more people to understand the needs of people in wheelchairs? If you will be in high school next year and answered yes to any of these questions, we need you!

Cupertino Safe Routes to School (SR2S) is currently recruiting students to be on the SR2S Working Group next school year. The Working Group meets monthly to share ideas about how to implement the goals of the Safe Routes to School program in Cupertino. Input from High School Student Representatives has been invaluable to the Working Group since 2018.

Every year we select two high schoolers to represent each high school in Cupertino. If you are selected, in addition to other great opportunities, you will be given the opportunity to work with the other high school representative at your high school to apply for the new SR2S High School Grant Program described above to bring SR2S programming to and make a difference at your school. The selection process has become extremely competitive in the last couple of years. We hope you’ll apply!

Applications due May 30.

Apply here: www.Cupertino.org/SafeRoutes/HSRep

Reminder: The City of Cupertino is looking for input from you about where road safety improvements would be beneficial. If there's an intersection or stretch of road in the City that you find challenging to navigate by foot, bike, or car, please let us know by submitting a comment and/or marking it on the Local Road Safety Plan Map. This is your opportunity to make Cupertino a better place!