The County’s participation in the San Ramon Valley Street Smarts Program is fully funded by the Livable Communities Fund. The total contribution is $20,000 for fiscal year 2017/2018. Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) is contributed directly to the San Ramon Valley Street Smarts Program for general support services by the City of San Ramon, and $10,000 is provided to the City of San Ramon for the costs of administering the San Ramon Valley Street Smarts Program.
The San Ramon Valley Street Smarts Program is a collaborative effort among the County, the City of San Ramon, the Town of Danville, the San Ramon Unified School District, and the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. The County has participated in this program since 2004 by funding a share of the costs to implement the program. During Fiscal Year 2017-2018, the City of San Ramon will administer the program and has requested that the County fund a total of $20,000 for program support ($10,000) and administrative support services ($10,000). The San Ramon Valley multi-agency education campaign is implemented through the collaborative effort of the Street Smarts Advisory Committee (“Advisory Committee”), which meets periodically to implement program components.
The Advisory Committee has adopted several large-scale programs to be implemented. They include:
Street Smarts Media Annual Press Release: An annual press release will be sent out at the beginning of the program year outlining the upcoming Street Smarts Program. The release will encourage members of the media and the public to learn about Street Smarts’ traffic safety education activities for the upcoming school year.
Traffic Safety Assemblies: Street Smarts devised an elementary school assembly designed to teach students the basics of pedestrian and bicycle safety. On-site assemblies educate students about the lessons of traffic safety in a fun and entertaining environment. As an opportunity to continue learning, students and parents together fill out and submit online a Traffic Safety Questionnaire for the student to receive a participation prize, help their class win a larger prize and assist their school with winning a Grand Prize, such as safety equipment (not to exceed $250) presented by local Elected Officials and Platinum Sponsors at the “Grand Prize” Award assembly. On average, twelve schools, including 8400 students and staff, are reached over the year.
Bike Rodeos: As a component of Street Smarts’ Safe Routes to School efforts, bike rodeos are an after-school activity that allows elementary school students to practice their cycling and traffic safety skills in a controlled, supervised environment. Bike rodeos include an interactive bicycling course, bike maintenance station and individual helmet check to ensure a proper fit. These activities reinforce street safety concepts. On average, twelve schools have over 1500 students participating each school year. Over 6000 parents and students are reached through direct advertising of bike rodeo.
“BMX” Middle School Bike Safety Program: The Street Smarts Program introduced a new educational bike safety program to middle school students in the spring and have continued this program into the new school year. BMX Bike Safety Assemblies are delivered to middle school students by presenting an entertaining demonstration with an informative, safety message, through a combination of BMX skills and a visual bike and helmet safety messages. On average, over 6,000 students and staff view the bike safety and skilled presentation each school year.
Street Smarts “Be Reel!” Video Contest: The annual video contest attracts middle school students in small teams to create a 60 second PSA on a specific traffic safety theme. An Annual Award Ceremony is held with a viewing and awarding of the top finalists, where local Elected Officials and Platinum Sponsors present the awards to the top placing students. Over 250 parents, staff and students attend ceremony. Over 6400 students and staff members are reached through advertisement of the contest and awards ceremony. Top placed videos are also played on Contra Costa Television (CCTV).
CHP “Start Smart” Teen Driver Safety Program: Street Smarts has partnered with the California Highway Patrol to bring the “Start Smart” Program to local high schools. The Start Smart Teen Driver Education presentation is delivered by CHP Officers through a highly impactful and interactive teen driver safety class to educate new drivers and their parents about safe driving practices. Presentations are offered four times each at the four San Ramon Valley District High Schools with approximately 1800 students and parents attending at each event.
Community Outreach Efforts: Street Smarts staff attends over two dozen community events as part of its outreach efforts. At the events, Street Smarts representatives staff an informational booth with traffic safety educational program material and activities for children, and teen drivers.
Street Smarts Web Site: To advance its community outreach efforts, the Street Smarts web site (www.street-smarts.com) will continue to serve as a resource for the community to learn about traffic safety and ongoing Street Smarts programs. In August 2016, a revised and updated web site was released for the benefit of parents, students and the general public in order to view program information and bike and pedestrian safety resources. The new web site is not only web user friendly, but also mobile phone friendly.
The program advances traffic, bicyclists, and pedestrian safety within the San Ramon Valley. For these reasons, the Public Works Department recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve participating in the program during Fiscal Year 2017-2018, and funding a total of $20,000 for program support and administrative services.
Contra Costa County will no longer be a participant in the program.
The San Ramon Valley Street Smarts Program is an educational campaign to promote traffic safety awareness to elementary, middle, and high school-aged children.