The Active School Travel Program 2022-2023 is a public awareness campaign led by Langdale Elementary Parent Advisory Council (PAC) to increase the number of students and community members walking and biking in Langdale, a small community on the Sunshine Coast of BC. Through community engagement, partnerships, and educational events, the program aims to encourage conversations about road safety and active transportation, ultimately increasing the number of active transportation users and decreasing the amount of vulnerable road user injuries in the community.
In alignment with our recent participation in an active school transportation campaign with the province, we would like to continue this work. We thought of having a similar campaign in the Langdale Elementary neighbourhood and beyond. Our community is enclosed by seaside and forest situated on the Port Mellon Hwy. Safely crossing the highway, walking and biking on Port Mellon Hwy have been a long-time issue in our community. The Vision Zero in Road Safety Program will provide an opportunity to improve the safety of pedestrian and cyclist road use.
The overall goal is to undertake walk/bike campaigns during the spring and fall months and to increase public awareness of walk and bike safety. The campaign will include inviting guest speakers and having bike workshops. Below is an overview of the project timeline:
Step 1: April & September Active School Travel Month – survey and campaign
Step 2: May - September – Communication with stakeholders and signage improvement
Step 3: Speed Watch week in the fall & Bike Safety workshop in October
Step 4: November – January – SC AT Committee Planning – integrating our outcome
with local stakeholders, ongoing dialogue with MOTI.
Step 5: February – March – Guest Speaker and Community Education opportunity. Volunteer appreciation and celebration of Vision Zero Program completion.
We will include project stakeholders to take successful collaborated initiatives. At each success we collectively achieve, we will celebrate our accomplishment and invite volunteers to come out for refreshment and social engagement, strengthening and forming a safely knitted neighbourhood.
Photo source: Pexels. Photo is shown for illustration purposes only and may not be an accurate representation of the project.
