Bicycle Friendly America Spring/Summer 2016 - (Page 22)
2016 NATIONAL BIKE SUMMIT & WOMEN'S FORUM
GETTING TO KNOW KATHY DURHAM
the 2016 Bicycle Professional of
the Year Award Winner
O
ur Bicycle Professional of the Year
award category received a broad
range of nominees, and Kathy Durham immediately stood out. During 16
years of public service to the City of Palo
Alto, Kathy created one of the most successful Safe Routes to School programs
in the nation, and it has been a model
for many others.
The success of Kathy's work speaks
for itself. Since becoming the City
of Palo Alto's Safe Routes to School
Coordinator in 2005 the city has seen
a 43% increase in the percentage of
students biking to middle school
and an astounding 153% increase in
the percentage of students biking to
high school. Thousands of students
bicycle to school in Palo Alto thanks
to the work of Kathy, the city and the
community partnerships that have
been cultivated. In addition to these
successes at secondary schools, over
17,000 elementary school students
have participated in bicycle education
programs.
Kathy is happy to share her secret
to success, saying "working with our
Safe Routes to School partners-PTA
volunteers, principals, and PAUSD
staff-has been the secret to the success in increasing biking, especially
to our secondary schools." Kathy first
became involved in promoting bicycling by serving as a PTA representative on her children's City/School
Traffic Safety Committee and initiating events in her community, such as
Walk & Roll Week in October and
Earth Week green commute events
22 BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA
in the spring. After becoming a city staff
person she continued to work actively
on forming partnerships supportive of
biking to school. This can be seen in the
formalized Safe Routes to School Partnership between the city and the school
district and two committees that facili-
tate cooperation between the city, school
district and PTA. She also ensured that
the Palo Alto Unified School District's
bond package included important investments in bicycle and pedestrian circulation plans, street network improvements
and bicycle parking.
Kathy's mantra of "more people
biking more places more often" has
been instrumental to the City of
Palo Alto's efforts to become a more
Bicycle Friendly Community. Kathy
was the primary mover for the City
of Palo Alto's 2011 application which
earned them a Gold Bicycle Friendly
Community award based on their
numerous efforts to improve bicycling, including many innovative facilities, and their remarkable -for a
US City-mode share of 8.75%. Even
now, close to five years later, there are
many things that other communities
can learn from Palo Alto's 2011 application, which is available to all interested communities and persons. In
2014, we recognized their Safe Routes
to School efforts as one of BFC
Steve's Top Win-Over Projects, noting that one of the schools had 70% of
students biking to school.
Shortly after receiving the Bicycle
Professional of the Year Award, Kathy
retired from her position with the City
of Palo Alto. We are extremely pleased
to recognize her contributions and to
share the model of community partnership that she has established to
other professionals who want to improve the safety and comfort of bicyclists.
http://www.saferoutes.paloaltopta.org/
http://www.saferoutes.paloaltopta.org/
http://www.saferoutes.paloaltopta.org/
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/50576
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/50576
http://www.bikeleague.org/content/bfc-steve-top-win-over-projects
http://www.bikeleague.org/content/bfc-steve-top-win-over-projects
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Spring/Summer 2016
Viewpoint
Social Media
Core Values, Unique Contributions
A Silver-Level Playbook: Arlington, Virginia
How Cycling Can Help Solve Global Warming
What The Bicycling Movements Could Learn From the Climate Movement
Photos from Bike Lobby Day
Senator Ben Cardin, Legislator of the Year
Getting to Know Kathy Durham
Plenary Sessions
Memphis Hightailers: Bicycle Club of the Year
Bike Lobby Day: A Nevada Perspective
Call for League Board Applications
Reflections on the National Bike Summit
Photo Highlights of Bike Lobby Day in DC
Architect of the Capitol–Bicycle Friendly Business
Summit Demographic Information
2016 Catalyst Award Recipient: Community Cycling Center
Bicycle Friendly America Spring/Summer 2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Summer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Winter2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Fall2016_GatewayDemo
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Fall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/bikeleague/BFA_Spring2016
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com