Once you have your inventory of assets and issues well in hand, agreeing on goals, objectives and strategies should be less daunting. A quick explanation of each of these terms is in order:

Goals: Think long-term and be ambitious. Goals are not always measurable, but are statements about where you want to go. Examples include:

• ACCESS: All students will have the opportunity to walk or bicycle daily in their journey to school.
• HEALTH: Students will incorporate 20+ minutes of physical activity into their daily routine.
• SAFETY: Walking and bicycling will be the safest way to get to school for students living within one mile.
• ENVIRONMENT: The number of cars dropping off students will decrease over time.
• EDUCATION: Students will understand the multiple benefits of active transportation and will choose to walk or bicycle.
• COMMUNITY SUPPORT: School, parents, businesses and community groups will participate in implementing the school travel plan.

Objectives: These are your milestones in pursuit of your major goals. They are measurable and often have target dates. Examples include:

• ACCESS: Reconstruction sidewalk on Main Street by August, 2011
• ACCESS: Build signalized cross walk on South Street by August, 2011
• ACCESS: Create safe neighborhood bus stops by August 2012.
• COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Change school policy to encourage walking within 1 mile of school by August, 2010.

Strategies: This is how you get things done. Strategies help to assign responsibility for achieving objectives, specific steps that need to be taken, critical input that will be required and so on. Examples include:

• COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Meet with PTA to describe the School Travel Plan and seek representatives for the committee
• EDUCATION: Sponsor walk and bike to school days each autumn and spring
• EDUCATION: Hold a bicycle safety clinic at the school with the help of the bicycle coalition of Maine
• ACCESS: Meet with town select board to discuss need for sidewalk improvements.

Many bicycle and pedestrian planners use the five "E's" to guide their plans. Your strategies will often fall into one of these categories. These strategies are ordered by increasing levels of intervention.

• Education: Infuse active transportation in school curriculum.
• Encouragement: Hold walk and bike to school days throughout the year.
• Enforcement: Rigorously prosecute laws against speeding and reckless operation near schools.
• Engineering: Apply for Safe Routes to School grants to improve sidewalks.
• Evaluation: Conduct annual walking audits to identify active transportation successes and needs.

The attached Goals-Objectives-Strategies document provides an easy framework for nesting the increasingly detailed objectives and strategies within your major goals.