New Online Portal Aims to Inform Students and Families About Walking and Bicycling Routes to and From Schools
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s Story Map is Helping Montgomery County Students Stay Safe and Active this School Year
As part of the Healthy Montgomery Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI), the Montgomery County Department of Transportation launched a brand-new, online-based web application also known as a Story Map aimed to be used as an informational resource for the County and its schools. The Story Map is a part of the Safe Routes to School Initiative which aims to increase the number of students in Montgomery County who walk or bike to school. Safe Routes to School is one of five strategies of the TCI.
Photo: Montgomery County Department of Transportation/Story Map
The online Story Map highlights several schools, centralizing information from all their main events and activities in one, user-friendly location. The resource also helps families locate routes and identify areas that require improvements.
By making this resource available, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation hopes that it will bring much-needed information – such as walking and biking routes, toolkits, pedestrian education, and safety trainings – to families and youth.
“Bike safety, support at Open House, and other evening events with our community were so beneficial to connect our work between home and the broader community. We are so thankful for your education of our students in the safety of riding bikes as they have likely been doing a lot of bike riding during COVID-19,” said Elise M. Burgess, Principal of Sally K. Ride Elementary School.
For more information on Safe Routes to School and to view the Story Map visit: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-PedSafety/srts/storymap.html.
About the Transforming Communities Initiative
The Healthy Montgomery Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI) is a partnership between the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), Trinity Health affiliate Holy Cross Health, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, and numerous other government and community partners. Montgomery County, Maryland is one of eight locations selected by Trinity Health for investment through their national TCI grant program.
TCI is an innovative, collaborative funding initiative established by Trinity Health, one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation. Grant recipients, in collaboration with a community coalition(s), implement and support evidence-based and innovative policy, systems and environmental change strategies to reduce obesity, promote tobacco-free living and address social influencers of health. TCI leverages health system funding, community partnerships, local match dollars, capital loan dollars, and national technical assistance resources to improve community health.
