12/17/2007

Dear WBWC,

Thank you so much for sponsoring my attendance at the first SR2S conference that was recently held in Dearborn. It was one of the most exciting conferences I have ever attended. As a police officer, I probably had different interests than some of the others (educators, and public health officials) attending such a conference, but I found that the wide variety of concurrent sessions had something of value for all, and me in particular. I attended the following sessions:

Neighborhood Traffic Safety -- It's no Accident -- a talk given by the founder of the movement "Keep Kids Alive -- Drive 25". He talked about his experiences and techniques for getting people to slow down when driving on residential streets. He has an effective message, and has had some considerable success it seems.

A Critical Piece of the SRTS Pie: Engaging and Empowering Youth -- a thoughtful panel presentation about getting school children involved in creating programs to engage their peers in the SRTS process. There were a number of successful programs discussed where students, not educators or police officers, created the ideas for involving their fellow classmates in walking and biking to school. The message was that having a peer start the process gained better buy-in from the other students.

Increasing Participation in SRTS Programs: Why Communities Drag Their Feet and What to Do About It -- This was an excellent session presented by a published author and Social Worker who works closely with schools and communities to identify issues preventing participation, chief among them, fear of the parents for the well-being of their children. There were a number of excellent ideas presented to work with and overcome those fears.

The Intersection of Bus Service and SRTS Programs: Maximizing the Possibilities -- This was, in my opinion, the weakest of the presentations. One of the panelists talked about a program in Chicago for "hazard-based-bussing", and the disparity in the program based on social strata of the participants. I felt the presenter gave a self-fulfilling interpretation of the data. When challenged on this by other attendees, she became defensive, and did not answer the questions. There were two other bussing programs presented, too, from rural areas that worked bussing into the goals of SRTS. The panelists, obviously, provoked thoughtful consideration of their ideas.

Schools and Local Government: The Nexus -- a great presentation on the impact the LOCATION of schools has in the development and character of a community. It was given by a panel involving a Planner and Planning Consultants. It pointed out the problems with big-box schools with limited access being now built on the periphery of the communities they are meant to serve, and the problems they create for getting kids to those schools. It was very insightful. It appears that we have a large challenge in working together to plan more thoughtfully in the future.

Last, I went out on Wednesday for a tour of two Greenway projects. One of them was a walking path in Dearborn to connect downtown with the UM Dearborn campus. The other was the Detroit River Front walkway. Both talked about the social changes that these amenities have created in the areas where they exist. It was extremely interesting to see how people adapt their lifestyles to the opportunities presented by their physical surroundings for changing their transportation patterns. It pointed out that we can do more than build more roads for cars in connecting neighborhoods, schools, stores, etc.

I also need to point out that the plenary session speakers were great! Mark Fenton had an excellent mix of humor and insight. Catherine O'Brien's talk that same day at lunch challenged us to think in new ways about "Sustainable Happiness". We also were treated a talk by the football coach, Herman Boone, of "Remember the Titans" fame. Last, for the politicos in the group, the Governor made a brief appearance, and lent her credibility to the efforts of SRTS. All in all, it was a great conference. Thank you again for helping with the financial end of my attendance. It was money well spent, in my estimation.

Sincerely,

Jack Ceo

Deputy Chief of Police

Saline Police Department