Walk, Roll, Connect: WSDOT State Active Transportation Plan Open Houses + More

Washington State Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 11/25/2019 04:19 PM PST

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This e-news provides updates on the 2019-2020 update to the State Active Transportation Plan and information on related planning activities. We will occasionally repeat items as new subscribers join the list. Forward to people you know will be interested in the planning effort.

Online Info Chats Scheduled

We come right to your desktop with our online chats! Using webinar presentation software we'll share a few slides with information about our approach to updating the state plan, safety statistics and other elements of the context for our plan, and some questions for you to answer. It's kind of like what we're doing in community meetings we attend, but without you having to travel anywhere.

Register in advance. If you decide to join at the last minute you can try the link. If there's room you'll be taken straight into the chat but the capacity may have filled up. So don't miss out--sign up now!

These presentations will be recorded and available as archived links after the presentations. Your comments become part of the input to the planning process.

Dates and times:

Where You'll Find Us the Week of Nov. 25

Realistically, we'll be eating pie. Aside from that....

Tuesday, Nov. 26: Online info chat noon-1pm. Register in advance. Using webinar presentation software we'll share a few slides with information about our approach to updating the state plan, safety statistics and other elements of the context for our plan, and some questions for you to answer.

Nov. 30, Mountlake Terrace: noon-2 p.m., Mountlake Terrace Library. Barb Chamberlain, Active Transportation Division Director, is joining the RoboGirls Popup Party & Safety Fair. Girl Scouts Lego League tackled the question, "What crosswalk in Mountlake Terrace has low visibility?" Come learn about their safety analysis and cheer on girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

Where You'll Find Us the Week of Dec. 2-6

Dec. 1-2, Seattle, ITS Washington two-day conference: The Active Transportation Plan is one of the many topics you'll be able to workshop with new ideas and information in the Designing for Inclusion and Success and Performance Measures that Actually Change What We Do on Day 1, and Active Transportation Division Director Barb Chamberlain is serving as MC for the day. You'll learn from the expertise of transportation professionals from across the state and they'll learn from you at this conference that focuses on transportation technology. Registration and fee required to attend.

Dec. 3, Bellingham, 6:30 social begins, presentation 7 p.m., ReSources Library 2nd floor: Meeting of Walk Bike Bus Bellingham. Remote presentation by Barb Chamberlain, Active Transportation Division Director. Location has bike racks and car parking, elevator or stairs to 2nd floor.

Dec. 4, Ellensburg, 4-6 p.m., Central Washington University, Hogue Technology Hall: Public open house focused on the state Active Transportation Plan with an update on Ellensburg's bicycle master plan process. Brief public presentations scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. You're welcome to drop in any time, talk with other community members, identify barriers and priorities for improving walk/bike/roll connections. Come ready to play Active Transportation Bingo and swap some Transportation Priority Trading Cards. Kids welcome! We'll invite them to draw pictures of their experiences and ideas about walking and bicycling. Hosted by City of Ellensburg and Central Washington University.

Dec. 5, Richland, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Ben Franklin Transit, 1000 Columbia Park Trail: Public open house focused on the state Active Transportation Plan; good chance to get ready for the 2020 Benton-Franklin COG active transportation planning process, too. Drop in any time, talk with community members, identify barriers and priorities for improving walk/bike/roll connections. Come ready to play Active Transportation Bingo and swap some Transportation Priority Trading Cards. Kids welcome! We'll invite them to draw pictures of their experiences and ideas about walking and bicycling. Spanish translation provided. Hosted by Benton-Franklin Council of Governments.

Dec. 7, Renton, 1-3 p.m., Renton Community Center: King County Regional Trails Coalition "Taking Trails into the Future" public event. This event is an opportunity for agencies, community groups, and nonprofits already involved with the Coalition to showcase what they’ve been up to and a chance for people from new groups to learn what this coalition is all about. Northwest Region active transportation coordinator Justin Nawrocki will be in attendance with an informational table on the Active Transportation Plan.

Dec. 7, Olympia, Legislative Building, Columbia Room: Presentation to Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs by Barb Chamberlain, Active Transportation Division Director. Meeting runs 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and is open to the public. Conversation about the plan is on the meeting agenda for discussion with commissioners 2-2:30 p.m., then the meeting opens for a community forum with commissioners on any subjects of interest.

Social Sharing

When you share with your social connections you boost the signal so more people know about the plan and can participate. 

On all social media: Use the tag #WSDOTactive.

A tweet you can send as-is or revise:

Live in WA state? Visit the online open house for #WSDOTactive State Active Transportation Plan http://bit.ly/WSDOT-ATP-Online-Open-House. Share your opinions on the questionnaire + tell your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers so they can too.

Facebook post:

We appreciate you going to this post on the WSDOT account page and sharing it to your page: https://www.facebook.com/WSDOT/posts/10156461395931975 (check “include original post”).

You can share the original post without adding any text, use the tweet language for your Facebook sharing, or write your own. The additional traffic created by sharing the original post will help it rank higher in Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm so more people will see it, rather than each of us creating a new separate post with the online open house link. Your comments on the post also help it move up in the newsfeed ranking.

Visit us online! 

Online open house--the event that's open 24/7: Information on the planning process, maps for your feedback, community events we'll be attending, and a questionnaire to take by Sunday, Dec. 15.

If you took our spring survey do this questionnaire too--it's a new survey.

Forward this email to friends and family, colleagues and community so they can share their opinions too.

What you'll find at the online open house:

  • Upcoming events where you can talk with WSDOT staff about active transportation
  • Our state routes analysis: How we're creating decision-making tools to help us identify and prioritize future changes
  • Maps for your feedback: State routes color-coded by Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) and a form for your comments about what you think of this approach. (What is LTS anyway? We explain in the online open ahouse.)
  • A questionnaire that asks:
    • Information about you to help us understand whether we have received responses from a sample that represents all Washington residents.
    • What you do for transportation
    • What prevents you from using active transportation more often
    • What would make it more likely that you would walk, bike or roll
    • What’s unique about your community or region
    • What’s most important for government to focus on for future changes to the transportation system that affect walking, bicycling and rolling

Send this link to everyone you know: http://bit.ly/WSDOT-ATP-Online-Open-House 

Adding Events

Sometimes we're on the agenda, sometimes we're joining local events open to the general public where we aren't making a formal presentation but can be available to talk about active transportation and the plan.

We're also participating in some events through phone and/or video conference, which enables us to get to more places.

We add events to the Community Events page in the online open house between e-mail updates; consider bookmarking and checking it every so often.

If you're holding a community event that would make a good place for someone to share information and gather input on active transportation let us know (email WSDOTactive@wsdot.wa.gov). We'll try to get someone there. We'll also spread the word through this e-mail and the online open house to help publicize your event.

Email WSDOTactive@wsdot.wa.gov with details about your event: location, date/time, format, how many you expect, and how we can participate or share information. We'll check calendars to figure out who can go.

Want a webinar at your meeting?

If you're holding a meeting and want a presentation about the ATP, email WSDOTactive@wsdot.wa.gov. Let us know date, time, and how long we'd be able to present.

We'll participate in as many of these as we can so we're coming to you (without adding vehicle miles to the state system) and you don't have to add another meeting to your already busy calendars. 

Lots going on for active transportation

For more detailed information on active transportation in Washington state, including training and conferences, grant opportunities, projects, research, and other resources, subscribe to the WSDOT Walk and Roll E-News.

Walk and Roll comes out 2-3 times a month, alternating between the detailed resource edition and a statewide news round-up. Recent editions: Regional News Round-up Nov. 24 and Resource Edition Oct 21. It repeats news about the ATP sent to this Walk-Roll-Connect list and includes much more.

If you read this email, thank you! You're staying in touch with WSDOT's work for a safe, sustainable, integrated multimodal transportation system. You also no doubt know someone else who should have the chance to learn about the state Active Transportation Plan. Forward this email to others and share the ATP News subscription link on social media (tag it #WSDOTactive).