Very few children walk or bike to school today. But this wasn't always the case. In 1969, according to the National Household Travel Survey, approximately 50 percent of children in the U.S. got to school by walking or bicycling. By 2001, only about 15 percent of students traveled to school by walking or bicycling. As a result, kids today are less active and less independent. Over the past 40 years, rates of obesity have soared among children of all ages in the United States, and approximately 25 million children and adolescents are now either overweight or obese.

The increasing trend of driving kids to school also has other serious implications for health and safety. As much as 20 to 30 percent of morning traffic can be generated by parents driving their children to schools, and in the United States, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14.
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Studies have shown that physical activity during youth plays a critical role in the development of strong bones, cardiovascular health and overall physical development. But today, sedentary lifestyles for both children and adults are, unfortunately, the cultural norm. In fact, on average, the majority of U.S. children now spend more time each day watching television and playing video games than they do in school.

I wanted to give you all a brief synopsis of a meeting that Mark Counselman and I had last Thursday with John Porcari, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, Neil Pedersen, the SHA administrator and Sam Minnitte, the director of planning for MDOT. Our agenda centered on ensuring that the state of Maryland have a fully engaged "complete streets" policy where the safety and convenience of all road users (bike/ped/ transit/cars) is accommodated.

The best news was that the Secretary agreed that county transportation engineers need training to ensure that local roads are safe for bikes, peds and transit users. His proposed solution (which we fully agree with) was to make complete streets training a state funding requirement for local DOTs. This means that state funds that go to the counties for road construction would come with a comprehensive complete streets training component. Right now training for bike/ped/transit accommodations is lacking in many county DOT offices. This could potentially remedy that problem. We will definitely be following up with the Secretary to make sure that this becomes a reality

Volunteers are needed to be route marshals, ride marshals, registration workers, and for other jobs. If you have volunteered before we hope that you will join us again. I have heard from some of you who wish to volunteer during Tour Du Port 2007. All those interested in volunteering for Tour du Port, please take a moment to complete our online volunteer registration form.

First review the volunteer activities listed below, as some may have changed since you last served as a volunteer with One Less Car's Tour du Port

Click this link http://www.onelesscar.org/support/volunteer_waiver.php to complete our volunteer application form.

Benefits of volunteering include a colorful Tour du Port t-shirt (select shirt size on volunteer registration), food, one-year complimentary membership in One Less Car, and a fun time!