Throughout the year The City of Davis and our partners host events to educate and encourage people to bike, walk, and use safe and fun forms of active transportation in their everyday lives.  

  

Active4.me Scanning

The Active4.me scanning system is currently active at 8 of our local elementary schools in Davis. Students register, receive a scan tag to attach to their backpack, scan in each day that they walk, bike, or use other forms of active transportation to get to school. The program captures every trip and can instantly notify a parent by text, email or phone that their student arrived on campus. The system generates real-time statistics including CO2, calories, miles and gas savings for each student, their classroom, grade or for the whole district. For details on how to sign up, check out our Active4Me page.

 

Bike Rodeos

Check out Street Smarts' Bike Rodeos in the Fall and Spring at participating elementary schools in Davis. City of Davis wants to empower K-6th students with the tools and skills needed to bike to school with confidence. Bike Rodeos are a skills course that help kids learn their hand signals, ABC quick check, helmet fitting, and traffic laws. Volunteers include bike mechanics, the UCD Aggie Cycling team, and League Certified Instructors. If you are interested in lending a hand, contact your school and get involved in promoting bike education! 

 

Bike to School Day

Davis participates in the National Bike to School Day celebration twice a year in the Fall and Spring. Bike to School Day encourages students to bike or walk to school day and raises awareness on the need to create safer routes for bicyclists and pedestrians. The City hosts numerous contests on this day and provides a variety of incentives to motivate students to ride/walk. Davis PD leads bike trains to campuses and UCD Sports teams cheer on riders as they park their bikes. Find out more about the many perks to participating in Bike to School Day here!

 

Books on Bikes

A collection of bike-themed books is being provided to each elementary school in Davis and Woodland to provide fun information for kids promoting an easy and safe way to travel that doesn’t negatively impact the environment. Designed to build and celebrate a culture of biking, and provide positive images and stories about the use of bikes for elementary school children, these books celebrate biking, bike culture, and bike safety. Students, and their parents, are exposed to many forms of media that promote driving (like car advertisements on tv, and popular films like the animated Cars movie) but rarely are people on bikes promoted to children in this same way.  We hope that by incorporating these stories into library collections it will begin to normalize biking to children and their families; encouraging them to choose this as an everyday form of transportation to school, work, or other practical and recreational destinations. Presented with support from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District and Avid Reader.

Books on Bikes Resources and Reading List 

 

Carpool to School

The City of Davis encourages families to carpool to school. If you need some help coordinating a carpool, contact your school's PTA.

 

Community Employment Services 

Streets Smarts is excited about a new partnership with Community Employment Services, an agency that provides goal-oriented support to adults with disabilities, including persons with autism, Downs Syndrome, and physical disabilities. Community Employment Services is providing volunteers for the Active4.Me school bike scanning program. Willett Elementary is piloting the new partnership with a great volunteer Nicole LaCaro.

 

Going the Extra Mile

A huge congratulations to every elementary school in the city for participating in this year's "Going the Extra Mile" celebration! Using Active4.me scanning, students were increasing their ridership throughout the school year. For the extraordinary lengths students have gone to in order to bike to school, the city recognized those at every elementary school that rode 120+ days in the school year! With over 200 certificates awarded, and 100 medals given to those who rode over 160 days, we couldn’t be more proud of their dedication to “Going the Extra Mile.” And a big shout out to the 10 students who rode to school EVERYDAY!

 

Loopalooza

Loopalooza is an annual event hosted by the City of Davis in collaboration with Bike Davis to get people of all ages out on their bikes and cycling through the Davis bike loop. This event is full of awesome bike swag that helps make our riders safer on the roads. On top of that, there are loads of fun activities throughout the loop like helmet decorating, water balloons, sidewalk chalking, and more. For more information on how to join in on the fun, check out our Loopalooza page. 

 

Polar Pedal

For the entire month of February if students bike or walk to school, they can earn points toward adopting a Polar Bear for their school. All DJUSD elementary schools participate in this goal to adopt polar bears through Polar Bear International. For more information check out our Polar Pedal page. 

 

Poster Contest

Aspiring artists showed off their Street Smarts in the City of Davis Street Smarts Poster Contest – Pollution Solutions. Elementary school students were asked to create original artwork illustrating the importance of proper helmet use, safe bicycle riding, crossing the street safely, and safe driving—including awareness about distracted driving and the dangers of talking or texting while on the road. Continuing with the success of previous art shows, all entries in the contest were on display in an exhibit at the Davis Arts Center. Some entries were even chosen to be made into posters and displayed at bus stops around Davis! For more information, including lists of finalists and winners, check out our Poster Contest page.

 

School Assemblies

The City is pleased to partner with Yolo Solano Air Quality Management District and other partner organizations to support Bike Safety Assemblies at elementary and junior high schools throughout Davis each school year. If you are interested in bringing programming like this to your school, please contact our Safe Routes to School program at (530) 757-5640. Be on the lookout for our production in the Spring! In the meantime, check out the assemblies we have done in the past:

• Bike City Theatre Company "Light the Way" 
• Bay Area Children's Theater "Rock the Block" musical and show
• Shows That Teach "This is How we Roll"
• StuntMasters "Showtime" BMX assembly

 

SRTS Walk & Bike Audits

Audits were conducted in 2013 and were the first step in a long-term plan to implement safety improvements around Davis schools. Strategies developed through the audits are being used by City staff to apply for funding to implement the improvements near school sites. The report/maps can be found at http://street-smarts.cityofdavis.org/saferoutes. The Audits support our city’s goals to increase the numbers of children and adults who use biking and walking as their main forms of transportation, as well as promoting higher levels of youth health and fitness, and improved air quality from vehicle emission reductions. 

 

SRTS Sports

Street Smarts encourages students participating in after school activities, such as school sports teams and bands, to bike or bus together their venues! 

 

Teacher Curriculum Review and Development

DJUSD Teachers will participate in the review and modification of Safe Routes to School curriculum models to make them relevant and appropriate for specific target grade levels in Davis. This is the first stage of a long-term goal to create a staged series of CA Common Core Standards-based lessons that support Safe Routes to School goals. Pilot lessons and units will be developed, implemented, and evaluated during the 2015-2016 school year, and will address target goals of the Safe Routes to School Program:

Safe Routes to School is a national and international movement to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from schools. The program has been designed to reverse the decline in children walking and bicycling to schools. Safe Routes to School can also play a critical role in reversing the alarming nationwide trend toward childhood obesity and inactivity.

 

UPCYCLE Bike Renewal Program

A partnership project with the Davis Joint Unified School District's MLK High School bike repair shop, the Center for Families, and the City of Davis Street Smarts program. Donated bicycles are repaired by high school students as part of their vocational training in bike repair. These bikes are matched with members of our community in need of a bicycle. Recipients receive a lock, helmet, and information about bike safety training opportunities. If you have a bike to donate or are in need of a bike, please contact MLK High school at 530-757-5425 or UPCycle Program Coordinator, Theo Buckendrof at 530-383-9007. 

 

Safe Routes for Seniors

 The City of Davis provides senior traveling training.  The primary goals of the program are to:

•  educate and encourage seniors to walk, bike and use public transit

• increase confidence and independence

• provide an opportunity to create new social connections

Working with the Davis Senior Center, City Staff and partners shared information with seniors about transportation options and hosted field excursions where participants biked, walked, and used public transit in Davis.   

 

 

The City is proud to promote safe and active transportation with the following community partners:

Davis Joint Unified School District

Bike Davis 

Bike Campaign