乱伦视频

Every day, thousands of Erie students navigate dangerous paths to school — facing speeding traffic, cracked sidewalks, snow piles, unleashed dogs and even crime. These daily hazards not only threaten student safety but also disrupt their ability to arrive at school on time and ready to learn.

In response, United Way of Erie County is expanding its forward-thinking Student Walking Safety Initiative to improve walking routes across the city. The initiative also supports the City of Erie’s Vision Zero program, targeting the most dangerous hazards for urgent action.

"When we launched the Community School Model in the 2016-17 school year and conducted our first needs assessments, it was clear that student walking safety was a significant barrier to students attending school regularly," said Mike Jaruszewicz, senior vice president of community impact for the United Way of Erie County. "Negative environmental factors such as people not obeying traffic and code enforcement laws are putting our youth at an increased risk of injury and can delay or even prevent them from getting to school."

The United Way launched a student walking safety Initiative in 2018. Jaruszewicz shares improvements have been made since then, but hazards still persist. That is why the United Way secured a $230,000 PennDOT Transportation Alternatives State Set Aside grant to expand this important work.

This project is in partnership with Erie’s Public Schools, Gannon University, Erie County Data Center, City of Erie and Erie Blue Coats. In a news conference on Thursday, Nov. 21 in the I-HACK building on 乱伦视频's campus, new data was revealed on student walking safety and outlined the next steps for this critical community effort. 

Chris Magno, Ph.D., Gannon University professor in the Criminal Justice department, and more than a dozen students in the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) program were instrumental in conducting the research to help map the safer routes. This is the 20th mapping exhibit for 乱伦视频 in 20 years. 

"Over the years, we've used mapping as a tool to uncover and address a wide range of challenges, from crime and food deserts to domestic violence and energy consumption, from the migration of purple martins to identifying areas burdened by pollutants," said Magno. "Each project tells a story of our community's struggles and opportunities for growth."

Some of the data these students collected involved walking the same city streets these students do as early as 6 a.m. They documented more than 7,000 hazards that students encounter daily, according to Magno, ranging from missing school zone signs to impassable roads, from sidewalks blocked by overgrown plants to blind corners with limited visibility, from broken sidewalks to the absence of lanes and signals for safe crossing.

After collecting the data, the students returned to 乱伦视频's GIS lab to organize, map and analyze the data. They presented their findings during the news conference.

"Mapping these hazards is vital because without documentation, these problems risk becoming ordinary - they fade into the background and eventually into neglect," said Magno. "We refuse to let that happen. Thanks to the dedication of the City of Erie, these data will be integrated into a comprehensive plan aimed at preventing road casualties and making our streets safer for walking and biking, especially for the students who rely on these routes."

In addition to the walkability project, these students also have maps that address other critical issues including, domestic violence, homicide, arson, drug overdoses and more. 

"These maps serve a dual purpose: they reveal the hard truths of our city and act as a call to action," said Magno. "Together, they remind us of the work we must do to make Erie a safer, better place for everyone."

Jaruszewicz outlined the next steps for this initiative now that the walking hazards are mapped.

"Our next step will be to meet with the stakeholders at each of the community schools to determine the new safer walking routes and then begin sign installation once the remaining funding for signage has been secured," said Jaruszewicz. "Needed safety enhancements in each school catchment area will also be discussed and then provided to the City as part of their Safe Streets for All Planning Grant and Vision Zero campaign, so future funding can be used to mitigate those concerns. Finally, we plan to launch our comprehensive education and awareness campaign in the coming weeks to help inform the public about this important issue and ask they play a role in keeping our youth safe."