Publication Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Walk this way
Walk this way
(October 12, 2005) More kids appear to be walking, biking to schools
by Sue Dremann
After years of efforts to get kids to walk or bike to school, it appears to be paying off.
Nearly 50 percent of students in some Palo Alto schools are eschewing cars for foot or pedal power, teachers and neighborhood traffic safety coordinators said.
The percent of Palo Alto kids choosing to walk to school is in startling contrast to national trends, which show that fewer than 20 percent of kids are biking or walking to their campuses everyday.
Palo Alto's success is in large part due to a recent local push to increase the number of walkers and bikers to schools by improving traffic safety around schools and educating parents and kids on traffic safety, according to Penny Ellson, traffic safety coordinator for Fairmeadow Elementary School on East Meadow Drive, said.
Ten years ago, 54 percent of Palo Verde Elementary School students were driven to school; that number dropped to 41 percent in a 2004 survey done by the Safe Routes to School Committee, Kathy Durkin, Palo Alto Unified School District transportation director said. Among those students, walking increased from 14 to 31 percent.
Walter Hays Elementary School saw a sizable decrease in car rider-ship from 54 percent in 1994 to 29 percent in 2004, and biking increased from 8 percent to 23 percent.
"At Fairmeadow, more than half the student body get to school by means other than a car, which is what you would expect to be typical of a community school," Principal Judy Barranti said.
The formation of the Safe Routes to School Committee in spring 2004 by area residents and parents has helped get kids walking to school by heightening awareness of accident hot spots, offering traffic safety education to parents and studying local crash statistics. Increased numbers of crossing guards, bike safety programs for parents and children, maps of safe bike routes, carpool programs and increased traffic enforcement have helped make Palo Alto's streets more hospitable to young bikers and walkers.
Terman Middle School PTA launched a carpool program this fall to reduce traffic congestion and increase safety around the school. The program offers incentives, such as a free oil change to parents who sign up for the carpool network. Terman Middle School is a magnet school, where some students commute from beyond the neighborhood, making walking difficult or impossible.
As part of the overall effort to get kids involved in "active" transportation, teachers introduce traffic-related environmental projects in the classroom.
DuringWay2Go!, Palo Alto's version of International Walk to School Day, which took place last Wednesday and Thursday at local schools, children at Nixon Elementary School measured their routes to school, then calculated how much gasoline they would have burned if they were driven that distance, and the cost to the environment. They also mapped out a carpool school route for rainy days.
Children at Fairmeadow Elementary School held a poster contest for the best posters depicting the experience and benefits of foot power.
Ellson hopes elementary school kids raised with good traffic safety skills will make it a life-long habit to be mindful of how they drive when they get their driver's licenses.
Ellson's two daughters walk to school every day.
"At the end of the day, you can really see how their day went from their demeanor," she said. "From a parent's standpoint, they don't have ants in their pants."
"Everyone is in a better mood and more ready for school," Kendra Hornbostel, mother of Eileen, second grade, and Nathan, in fifth grade, said.
Traffic safety does remain a concern for some parents, who are reticent about allowing their children to walk or bike to school.
"If someone would teach me how to safely ride with three kids, I'd do it," said Janice, a parent who biked with two of her children from Greenmeadow, near San Antonio Road, proving to herself that it was "do-able."
Ellson conceded the community and schools must be vigilant of hotspots and find ways to reduce traffic flow and increase safety skills. Third and sixth graders can attend bike rodeos at different elementary and middle schools, where a pretend street is set up, complete with police officers. Kids learn how to watch for dangerous situations, and practice techniques for avoiding them. For example, "almost no kid on the planet can look over their left shoulder to look at traffic without veering into it," Ellson said.
Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.
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