The Newton School Dept reverted back to the previous rule that all elementary school children that live more than a mile away from school will now ride the school bus for free. For the last four years it was only children that lived more than two miles away that rode for free.
I’ve always felt strongly that if the school department does not recommend children walk a given distance to school than it should be the dept’s responsibility to provide transportation. Yet during these last four years of bus fees no one in the schools were recommending that elementary schools children should be walking 2-4 miles day round-trip to school. So I’m particularly delighted with the rule change on that basis.
My daughter moved on to middle school this year but I talked to a local elementary school parent this evening. She said that this morning on the elementary school buses in Upper Falls there was a very big jump in the ridership. All sorts of parents who ferried their kids to school last year are putting them on the bus this year. Aside from the equity issue this is a win-win-win outcome if it’s a lasting change. It means that we just eliminated a lot of cars on city streets for that commute. We’ve improved the safety and general environment around the schools with fewer cars doing dropoffs and pickups. Many of kids are now getting a bit exercise before and after school with the short walks between their houses and the school bus stop.
If you live in that 1 – 2 mile range from an elementary school, did you see a significant change this morning? If you dropped your kid at school, did you notice any change in the amount of traffic?
Congrats to the School Committee for voting for this overdue, common sense rule change.
At Bowen, there were almost no cars in front of the school this morning, and people (including many parents accompanying children) were elbow-to-elbow on the sidewalk as if entering a baseball stadium. I hope the enthusiasm for the bus and walking lasts beyond the first day of school. (Fun fact: as I recall very few elementary children live further than 2 miles from their local school, and Bowen students in Chestnut Hill win the prize for being the furthest away)
Middle- and high-school students used to ride for free as well. I believe recent fee hikes were justified to SC as having little impact on ridership, and perhaps that’s true, but making something free could be a very different story. That traffic has an impact on the whole city, not just the schools!
Thank you for the update. I hope this gets extended to all school kids, not just elementary schools, for the sake of safety (fewer cars on the roads near schools), traffic, and the environmental impact.
Some of those UF kids are taking the bus to Angier at Carr. My kids have always taken the bus (and we have paid the fee, lucky us for our timing of having kids). One of my biggest pet peeves is that the high school bus is more expensive to take than “renting” a parking space. We should be offering FREE busses for these kids so that they learn to take public transportation, and not drive one car for one person.
Actually there was MORE traffic in the area near Albermarle this AM. I was actually wondering if any of the Angier kids are NOT taking the bus to Carr because there was so much traffic. And Fessenden hasn’t even opened yet. I cant imagine what the traffic will look like when Fessenden is back in session.
Definitely agree that it should cost as much or more for students to drive than ride the bus. We should not be giving students financial incentives to drive to school, especially given all the known risks of teen drivers.
Excellent story, and great move by the School Department.
mgwa, unfortunately the biggest financial incentive right now is for students to be driven to school. If only they could pay students to take the bus.
Adam – I understand. But when kids reach driving age, driving to school becomes a close second and has the added attraction of giving kids independence and freeing parents from chauffeur duty.
I think that the school buses should be free, period. But I also think that if they aren’t free, student parking shouldn’t be cheaper than the buses.