School Travel Planning Leading the way for Active School Travel in Ontario, Canada: A Collaborative Provincial Strategy Introduction page

Introduction This presentation is highlighting how collaboration with strategic and diverse partners can bring about long-term change in a variety of community and school settings. Together GCC, MX and HSF are making the case for sustainability through existing transportation, education and health programs and partners. I will describe these three collaborative partners in more detail shortly.

An explanation of terms used School Travel Planning: The process to deliver ASRTS in a way that follows the 5 E’s Education Encouragement Enforcement Engineering Evaluation Active Sustainable School Travel (ASST): another name for ASRTS Encouragement and Educational Activities include: Walking School Bus / Bicycle Train Walk/Wheel on Wednesdays Walking Buddies

The School Travel Planning Process To ensure that everyone in the audience understands what we’re talking about, here is a bit of background. Between 2006/12 GCC led the research, development, and pilot test of the Canadian STP model and disseminated it to every P/T. A comprehensive set of tools were created and are available through our web site along with the results from this work to date.

The school travel planning model shown on the previous slide was implemented nationwide between 2010 and 2012, through a network of provincial and territorial Active and Safe Routes to School partners.

Inclusive Planning and Engagement The beauty of the STP model is its ability to bring together a diverse group of community stakeholders to collect data, assess needs, plan actions, implement and measure – based on realistic capacity of the team. The process works best when schools are very actively involved, including providing a voice for students. The School Travel Plan is a living document that the school and the team can reference to create progress over 2-3 years. Ultimately the responsibility for safe and active travel for children should be built into existing policies and community master plans affecting transportation, health, safety and environment. This is our shared vision.

Cost-Benefits of School Travel 1:8 cost-benefit ratio on STP work in Ontario to date Long-term estimated benefit of $142M to the province ~$1M for 19 projects over 11 years Average Annual Costs Elmdale Public School, Ottawa Cost-Benefit Annual Benefits: + 231,458 minutes - 20,407 km - 4.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases - 177 kg of air pollutants   $ After the 2010-12 dissemination we worked together to assess the impacts of the work. Despite being rolled out over a short time period, the results I’m going to share with you on the next couple of slides are encouraging. The c-b study, completed in 2013-14, and presented at the Sydney W21 conference, demonstrated that the STP model is cost effective, especially when delivered over several years. This is important evidence as we work to create a provincial sustainable model for Ontario, and then consider how to replicate this across the country. The total cost of the 19 projects in 6 communities over 11 years would be one million dollars. The average annual cost was less than $5000 per project and at $124 per student over 11 years. The benefits over 11 years would be $142M in cost savings to the Province. These cost benefits are translated into health, transportation, fuel, emissions, with some infrastructure costs. 4900/ Project $ 124/ Student

STP in Canada: A holistic examination of program impact on active school travel: G. Mammen, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto Funded by: Disseminated 2010-2012 Objectives Our initial data analysis from the 2010-12 dissemination seemed disappointing – an average across the country of only 1.3% modal shift. However, some regions were very new to AST while others, like Ontario, have been at it for years – so there were provincial modal shift spread of between 1 and 23%. To better understand the outcomes of the work, G. Mammen, UofT, undertook an extensive study of the data and the model, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. His findings, which will be published very soon, are interesting. Can STP lead to increases in AST after 1 year of implementation? What key factors influence implementation and mode change? 4 distinct studies: 2 quantitative + 1 qualitative + 1 mixed-methods

Can STP lead to increases in AST? Summary of Findings after 1 school year of STP Study 1 Increase in AST Study 2 Mode Shift among Parents Study 3 N/A (Qualitative) 1-23% 14% in 1/2 of Participating Schools of parents changed from to Study 4 2 Toronto Schools 3.2% 3.9% 15% 11% To School From School To School From School School 1 School 2

Diverse communities served Summary of Findings $ $ Diverse communities served $ $ Success Factors STP Facilitator role & model STP’s comprehensive approach in strategy implementations and stakeholder involvement: - school champions community stakeholders (align with 5Es) designated facilitator Biggest challenges 1 year implementation period Parent involvement

Ontario Provincial Strategies Leading to Sustainability Feasibility Study in Toronto & Wellington Dufferin Guelph So here we present the work of the three partners, working to create one cohesive program that governments cannot refuse! These three provincial strategies are working in parallel with multiple partners to foster longer-term sustainability in active school travel in Ontario. Regional Communities of Practice Roadmap Strategy

Provincial ASST Strategy Roadmap www.smartcommute.ca Metrolinx mandate: To champion and deliver mobility solutions for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA): The Big Move By 2031, 60% of children in the GTHA will walk or cycle to school 20% of am peak hour traffic is connected to school travel School travel mode affects work commute Stepping It Up project for Hamilton and Region of Peel 2010-12 Opportunity to build lifelong healthy habits Children today are the commuters of 2031 and beyond GCC has worked closely with Metrolinx as they used their mandate through The Big Move, to increase active travel trips for the school journey. A collaboration on STP in the City of Hamilton and Region of Peel, which incorporated Smart Commute principles for school staff, led to a recognition of the need for greater collaboration across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Region, after the completion of the Stepping It Up project. Metrolinx undertook an extensive strategic visioning exercise.

Provincial ASST Strategy Roadmap Provides discussion platform on sustaining active school travel in the GTHA and beyond. Conversation between > 30 key stakeholder organizations: 8 provincial ministries, municipalities, public health, school boards, practitioners, and NGOs Describes how organizations and communities can work individually and collectively. Strategy identifies: key goals & benefits, 8 strategic areas of focus & related actions, existing stakeholder activity & priority actions. Process funded by Metrolinx & Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation.

Provincial ASST Strategy Roadmap Modeling between workshops Process Clarifying Strategic Intentions Synthesis Building the Roadmap Priority Setting Dialog 42 Key Informant Interviews Modeling Listening Numerous documents reviewed 4 workshops, every 2 weeks Modeling between workshops

Strategy roadmap And this was the result – the Roadmap.

Strategy Roadmap Implemented in GTHA Formed January 2015 Includes representatives from 60+ organizations (transportation, planning and recreation departments, public health, school boards, police, schools, NGOs, and other stakeholders) Welcomes participation from all GTHA stakeholders Key Goals Support further collaboration Sharing of Best Practice Amplification of Work Municipalities/ Regional Governments School boards Public Health Local NGO/ ENGOs Metrolinx

History with Active School Travel Strong partnerships across the province with over 250 partners dedicated to improving children’s health since 2006 Support includes initiatives: Champlain School Facilitation Pilot The HSF has a long history with AST, and has collaborated with GCC for many years. Their programming that is a perfect fit for AST includes: Regional Communities of Practice

HealthyCanada By Design Spark Advocacy Grants Local research Establish Partnerships Build Awareness Community Engagement Policy Development Advocacy HealthyCanada By Design Partners: national health, planning and transportation organizations, region and local health authorities, NGOs, & university researchers; Incorporate health considerations into land use and transportation planning Developed the Shaping Active, Healthy Communities Toolkit and Workshop guide Strategies incorporate support for local advocacy through Spark; connecting health, planning and engineering professionals through built environment and health; providing community level adaptable resources …

Champlain School Facilitation Pilot Program 8 month school-based intervention to support healthy eating and physical activity, including school travel planning/active transportation RioCan/HSF/GCC Active Safe Routes to School (2013-2018) 4 new schools each year from across Canada 5-step plan to develop school travel plans Education and encouragement (events, assemblies, awards) Community mobilization Evaluation Supporting an intervention to support healthy eating and PA, in partnership with the Champlain Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Network and Propel Centre for Population Health Impact; and directing corporate donations to HSF to assist further the work with school communities around AST.

Regional Communities of Practice Strategies and Policies Heart and Stroke/Green Communities: research and document existing Ontario school travel policies Hosting Regional Workshops: 4 Regional summits for - Report feedback Understand/incorporating regional differences Sharing promising and best practices An exciting initiative, now underway, is led by HSF and funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The focus of this work is to identify and facilitate the creation of AST policies while sharing best and promising practice to encourage growth of the work to more communities and schools. A survey, conducted by GCC on behalf of HSF, was conducted this past spring of ASRTS practitioners across the province. The results were interesting and consistent and in line with the Metrolinx Strategy Roadmap and early results from the Ministry of Education feasibility study: Highlighted urgent need for building local capacity, through funding of staff (facilitation). STP model is well recognized and implementation across the province is strong. Ownership and funding create barriers to expansion. Key to the success of a provincial STP initiative is the engagement of local multi-stakeholder commitment. Lack of active school travel policies: school boards and municipalities; requires immediate action. HSF will be conducting 4 regional workshops (Ontario is a very large province!) with one final consolidated workshop, to share results. 5th workshop to consolidate best strategies from regional workshops Create a sustainability plan that builds on results from summits

A Feasibility Study: Regional Delivery of STP ? Who owns STP? Who should fund STP? WELLINGTON DUFFERIN GUELPH TORONTO Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education, GCC is conducting intensive STP programming in 15 schools in a mix of urban, suburban and rural settings. We have not yet collected the follow-up data so results are currently just anecdotal – but they are all encouraging, with all schools showing slight increases in walking and wheeling. As well as comparing modal shift we are also analyzing the costs vs. benefits as part of this study. This study wraps up in November, and will inform future programming in these participating communities but will also provide GCC and the provincial government with valuable recommendations on where the STP model belongs – who are the best and most logical ‘owners’ and who should contribute to the funding of the work. To assist with the funding the Heart and Stroke Foundation, through a corporate donation from RioCan, contributed to the work in 6 of the Toronto schools. 10 schools Neighbourhood pairing Urban and suburban 5 schools 5 municipalities Urban and rural

Ontario ASRTS Partnership Model Delivered locally with support from: Supported provincially: School Boards Public Health Municipalities Police By pulling together the lessons learned, experience gained and collaborative relationships developed, GCC aims to create a provincial partnership model that will provide centralized leadership while providing capacity to communities to develop and maintain locally relevant active school travel programs. The funds to make this happen are not committed at this time but work is underway to advocate for this model. The feasibility study will lead to a strong partnership model, that provides sustained local capacity to school boards and key stakeholders while supporting a centralized clearing house and knowledge base to coordinate and manage funding, resources and tools, training and acreditation, communications, evaluation and measurements, and KTE. Resource Support for STP Tools & Models Funding Support for Facilitation Knowledge exchange through regional cooperation Central Communications Strategy Evaluation/ Measurements

Multiple Partners and Contributors Our Thanks Funding Toronto Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph At this point, we have a diverse range of funders and contributors. In addition to the Ministry of Education, City/Municipal departments, and the school boards, we also collaborate with other non-profit organizations and corporate entities, all of whom have been very helpful in the process. Transportation Services & Planning

Questions? To summarize, we have developed the Canadian School Travel Planning Model as a way to strategically deliver ASRTS and we aim to continue this work until we have created a long-term sustainable model in Ontario and across Canada.