The Access to Exercise Opportunities Work Group recommended an updated focus from access to exercise opportunities to access to physical activity opportunities to be more inclusive, as physical activity refers to any bodily movement that requires energy. This is aligned with CDC's shift toward more inclusive and holistic language such as physical activity and movement.

The Work Group identified the following priorities for action planning related to safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, greenways, and multi-modal transit options.

• Increase the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility
• Promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility
• Promote, sustain, and expand multimodal transportation options to increase access to places for physical activity

The Access to Exercise Opportunities Work Group identified the following potential short-term and long-term strategies to move the priorities forward.

• Priority: Increase the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Use sidewalks, biking trails, lanes, walking trails, and greenways available.
    • Promote walking audits, making sure to target areas of historical disinvestment (Steps to Health).
    • Involve youth in promotion and assessment (walk audits).
    • Engage youth to promote need (for example, youth empowerment groups).
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • Ensure long-term equitable funding, making sure to target areas of historical disinvestment.
• Priority: Promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, bike trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Educate on sidewalk maintenance (more education).
    • Market events, such as connecting greenways, walk to school day, etc.
    • Highlight and connect to wider transportation network.
    • Promote Rails to Trails.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • Ensure long-term equitable funding, making sure to target areas of historical disinvestment.
• Priority: Promote, sustain, and expand multimodal transportation options to increase access to places for physical activity
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Encourage Medicaid to expand transportation options.
    • Complete asset mapping of existing rideshare programs.
    • Examples of rideshare programs: Edgecombe, Craven Area Rural Transit System (CARTS), and Fuquay-Varina- seniors to growers markets.
    • Increase connectivity to daily life destinations.
    • Build bike racks into infrastructure for schools.
    • Educate LEAs (local educational agencies) on biking and walking to schools.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • Ask Integrated Mobility Division at NC DOT about long-term policies to support this.

April 24, 2023, 10:00 to 12:00 pm, Work Group Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Jayne McBurney, Rachel Poehlman, and Tish Singletary

Attendees: Alex Rotenberry, Brandy Bynum Dawson, Katie Harmon, Leah Mayo

Discussion:

• Reviewed at the top three policies revised at the previous meeting the work group. No changes recommended to the wording of the top policy priorities.
  • Increase the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, biking trails, lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility.
  • Promote, improve, and maintain the number of safe and well-lit sidewalks, biking trails, lanes, walking trails, and greenways to improve connectivity and accessibility
  • Promote, sustain, and expand multi-modal transit options to increase access to places for physical activity
• Discussed the following questions for each of the three top policy priorities. The responses from the asset mapping worksheet and meeting chat are included after the notes.
  • What are recommendations for lead agencies for this policy work?
  • What would be short-term strategies to move this policy forward?
  • What would be long-term strategies to move this policy forward?
  • What are additional assets needed?
  • What sources of funding are and/or may be available for this policy initiative? 
• Next steps were for work group members to add any additional responses to the asset mapping questions by May 8, 2023. The Co-Leads will meet to review the responses to discuss strategies and action planning.

December 5, 2022, 10:00 to 12:00 pm, Work Group Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Jayne McBurney, Rachel Poehlman, and Tish Singletary

Attendees: Alex Rotenberry, Brandy Bynum Dawson, Jason Uroz, Katie Harmon, Kelly Kavanaugh, Kenneth Withrow, Leah Mayo, Michelle Nance, Mike Edwards

Discussion:

• Reviewed the purpose of the meeting was to review the proposed policy initiatives/ strategies to prioritize them, discuss what others are doing in this space, and revise and add to the policies as needed.
• Provided an overview of the NC SHIP Community Council and Healthy North Carolina 2030.
• Reviewed and discussed the policy initiatives for Access to Exercise Opportunities, including the results of the policy ranking survey. The work group reviewed each of the policies and discussed recommendations for revisions and challenges associated with each of the policies.
• Identified the top priorities for asset mapping were:  
  • Maintain safe and well-lit sidewalks
  • Increase the number of biking trails and lanes, walking trails, and greenways
  • Expand transit services to increase access to places for physical activity
  • Rethink prioritization measures for improvements, such as crash data, identification of marginalized populations, and infrastructure needs for vulnerable communities
  • Increase the number of joint use/open use policy agreements for school playground facilities
• Planned for work group members to answer the asset mapping questions regarding each of the prioritized policies before the next work group meeting.

October 20, 2022, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Co-Lead Planning Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Jayne McBurney, Rachel Poehlman, and Tish Singletary

Discussion:

• Reviewed work group invitee list and responses to policy survey.
• Drafted agenda and planned for work group meeting on December 5, 2022.

August 25, 2022, 9:00 to 10:45 am, Co-Lead Planning Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Jayne McBurney, Rachel Poehlman, and Tish Singletary

Discussion:

• Discussed and added to the list of potential work group members. 
• Identified process for prioritizing the proposed policy intiaitives and discussed that the policies for Indicator 7: Access to Exercise Opportunities were more infrastructure related. 
• Set next work group meeting dates.