This textual content was initially revealed on BikePGH.

Proper right here’s how Seth is transferring skills to help make Pittsburgh increased for strolling!

It’s our closing interview! We’ve been sitting down with BikePGH’s Advocacy Supervisor, Seth Bush, to take heed to all about his experiences with the 2023 Pennsylvania State Strolling Faculty Fellowship Program through America Walks and AARP. As a closing enterprise to close out this 6-month fellowship, Seth not too way back submitted his Strolling Movement Plan, which makes use of the whole thing he’s realized on this fellowship comparable to walk audits, advertising and marketing marketing campaign strategies, assessing protection, rising relationships with key companions, and additional.  

Congratulations in your new certification, Seth! We’re excited to see you take your new skills into the group to educate advocates, search the recommendation of with decision-makers, and impact precise change in our communities. After within the current day’s interview, this weblog assortment will come to an in depth. Once you missed it, attempt our blogs from (Month 1) (Month 2) (Month 3) & (Month 4)  to get a recap of Seth’s experience, and proceed finding out beneath to check why it’s best to affix with Seth and/or stage up your advocacy and improve your group in 2024!

Q:   Howdy, Seth. Congratulations on ending your 6-month fellowship with PA Strolling Faculty. All of us are very to take heed to regarding the primary takeaways and any important insights you gained through the experience… Can you enlighten us?

I consider it’s really fascinating that I started this Strolling Faculty journey as soon as I used to be mannequin new on the BikePGH staff. I actually really feel the experience supercharged my finding out of the technical elements of how and why we do what we do on this group. Earlier to changing into a member of the BikePGH crew and starting at Strolling Faculty, I already had an understanding of group organizing and experience making grassroots change. Nevertheless through this program I was ready to really put all of it into the context of metropolis design and what it really takes to make “Streets for Of us.”

One different fascinating and funky issue about this program that I didn’t initially depend on is that out of the course’s six modules, town engineering portion was merely one module of six complete modules. Within the meantime, it was the historic previous and have an effect on which were the additional substantial topics inside the complete course –for instance, Mobility Justice, the historic previous of racism on metropolis design, and finding out in regards to the insurance coverage insurance policies that create our constructed environment. I didn’t perceive merely how substantial these topics have been going to be all via the course of the fellowship, whereas solely a sliver of the puzzle was the engineering portion. That takeaway is vital because of I perceive now that with the intention to have one of the best and equitable change on our streets, we really ought to be intentional about having a deep understanding of the parents these modifications are going to have an effect on: what are their lived experiences, desires, and needs?

Q: How else does this tie into your work at BikePGH?

Successfully, to begin out, our determine is BikePGH nonetheless we’re engaged on advocacy for lots additional than merely people who bike. We’re really making a practice shift to have an effect on accessible streets for all of us, whether or not or not biking, strolling, or rolling. Intuitively, I understood that upon starting this job as BikePGH Advocacy Supervisor, nonetheless now with Strolling Faculty I’ve been ready to affix that understanding with consultants all through the nation and through exploring quite a few provides and sources. This all helped to educate me on the technical stuff that goes into this work, and now I actually really feel increased geared as much as assist our BikePGH advocates. Significantly, transferring quite a few the knowledge and sources I’ve realized and compiled with the intention to steer trainings, stroll audits, give advice, and stage to priceless sources I couldn’t have in every other case been linked to. I’ve actually develop to be extra sensible at supporting advocates through this program.

I actually really feel like I’ve leveled up my advocacy! 

-Seth Bush

I’d desire to share an anecdote of 1 factor that has already made me actually really feel really good in regards to the have an effect on of this work. Just some weeks previously, I had the prospect to sit down down down with certainly one of many advocates I’ve beforehand met and supported from a close-by municipality. He had beforehand attended just a few of BikePGH’s advocacy trainings nonetheless I spotted he was feeling really caught on simple strategies to work together of us in his group. Significantly, he was in quest of an engagement method for a very busy highway that runs through their enterprise district. So I sat down with him 1-on-1 to discuss subsequent steps. Their municipality already has a Full Streets protection they usually’re an Energetic Transportation Plan, nonetheless they’ve an prolonged technique to go to essentially transform the walkability of their downtown. So, we talked a few good method to maneuver forward, and I shared just a few of what I spotted at Strolling Faculty. After that meeting, he instructed me each time we’ve sat down to talk collectively, he feels he has moderately extra readability and a lots clearer path forward on account of our conversations. That’s what I would love for folk, and it feels really good to take heed to it’s going down.

Strolling Faculty gave me so plenty of these devices and sources to assist these conversations, and I’m actually attempting forward to having many additional fruitful interactions with bike/ped advocates all through Pittsburgh to help of us be environment friendly advocates of their neighborhoods. 

Q:  What’s subsequent and what can we depend on in terms of your subsequent initiatives?

First, additional Stroll Audits! A Stroll Audit entails strolling through an house or observing a stretch of freeway to find out what challenges there are to people who stroll through the realm. The thought is to begin out interested in choices to make it safer and additional fulfilling for folk to walk in that house. For those who want to do a Stroll Audit in your neighborhood, attain out to me! Check out Weblog 3 for extra info on what a Stroll Audit can do for the safety of your neighborhood. 

Subsequent, regarding getting my Strolling Movement Plan in motion, I’ve started so many conversations associated to this plan. As for on-the-ground implementation, I’m going to be engaged on getting some guests calming put in on Woodstock Ave in Swissvale sometime subsequent yr. 

I’ve moreover been ready to increased understand diversified funding options obtainable, and I now know which ones are associated to my neighborhood and others. I’m ready to current up in places and talk with alternative makers intelligibly and get them to contemplate initiatives and areas of need associated to such a advocacy. 

Additional so, I’m going to be taking what I’ve realized from this in bringing it to communities all over the place within the metropolis. At a present capital value vary meeting, for instance, I listened to the mother and father speaking up for guests calming & pedestrian safety – and I struck up dialog and commenced developing relationships with these individuals. I now have the knowledge to help communities that maybe wouldn’t have thought-about Bike Pittsburgh as a method to help them get their pedestrian safety desires met. I’m in a position to reveal skills and provide sources that current BikePGH as an organization will help their group – not solely a bunch the place of us journey their bikes– nonetheless their group the place the children play, the place of us stroll, and the place of us journey the bus.

Inserting collectively the Strolling Movement Plan for Woodstock Ave, I now have a toolkit to tug from that allows me to create a imaginative and prescient of safer streets that exceeds what I’ve carried out sooner than. I now have a bigger sense of probability. It has modified the lens by which I view elements of our group. I uncover inspiration in points I couldn’t have in every other case found inspiration in. 

THE VISION: “[In 2028] The as quickly as broken sidewalks have been repaired and widened with new highway bushes to provide shade. Intersections have been redesigned with shorter crossing distances, raised crosswalks, and accurately graded curb cuts with tactile surfaces… Avenue murals showcase the ingenious spirit of the group whereas signaling to drivers that our highway is for folk to remain, not for vehicles to go fast. Bus stops alongside the highway all attribute a trash can, a close-by highway delicate, and a close-by highway tree…”

– The “Imaginative and prescient” a part of Seth’s Strolling Faculty Movement Plan

Q: Thanks, Seth! Is there something you want to share as we wrap up this weblog assortment?

Solely a sincere due to my group– I had the privilege of being a part of an AWESOME mentor group all through the cohort. It was solely a precise privilege to have the power to collaborate with my group and offers each other recommendations and help each other out. And to our Mentor, Daniel Value, thanks lots, you may have been good. The recommendations and assist I acquired from this group alone made Strolling Faculty worthwhile, amongst so many various elements of this method. I extraordinarily advocate it!

Congrats as soon as extra to Seth on ending this fellowship, and due to all people finding out this weblog assortment and following along with us! For those who want to study to advocate for safer strolling in your group, you’ll be capable to be a part of with Seth at seth@bikepgh.org. For those who want to take that additional step, preserve tuned on the AmericaWalks website for various options.