After four days packed with speakers, workshops and field trips, the 2010 Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference successfully concluded on Saturday, February 6, with a bike ride to the BikeTexas office for a happy hour and tamales.

On Wednesday, February 3, while Central Texas's drought-busting rains forced three trail-building workshops into the Travis County Expo Center (which turned out to be a great venue), the first-ever all-day training workshop for Texas city and regional Bicycle, Pedestrian and Safe Routes to School Coordinators took place at the conference. Then on Thursday, an afternoon downpour held off until the moment walking expert Mark Fenton finished his two-hour walkabout. Fortunately, the skies cleared for beautiful mild winter days on Friday and Saturday; perfect for outdoor sessions such as Friday's tour of Austin's premiere bicycle facilities, and Saturday's ride to BikeTexas.

One complete track of sessions was dedicated to Safe Routes to School (SRTS). Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) SRTS Program Coordinator Carol Campa provided an overview on the program; including how TxDOT is utilizing $40 million from the 2005 Federal 'SAFETEA-LU" Transportation bill to enable more Texas children to bike and walk to school. Biking and walking safety advocates hope for a dramatic SRTS funding increase in the 2010 Federal Transportation bill now taking shape in the U.S. Congress.

Conference pictures will be available for download on the BikeTexas website within the next few weeks.

Stay tuned in the next months for information on the next conference. You won't want to miss it!