Wednesday is International Walk to School Day, an annual activity Montgomery County officials encouraged students and parents throughout the county to take part in.
A number of local schools (including Wood Acres Elementary) regularly celebrate the day with organized meet-ups and walks to school before the first bell.
But what happens after that?
It’s a topic Councilmember Nancy Floreen said was a “pet peeve” of hers last week during a Council session on pedestrian safety.
“One of my pet peeves of course are parents driving their kids to school,” Floreen said. “So much of the Safe Routes to School issue is associated with people who are simply driving instead. I think part of it is design and some policy rules that need to be revisited as to how transportation actually occurs for these kids. I think it’s a problem.”
Floreen said her Garrett Park neighborhood has three nearby schools that start at different times and make evident the amount of driving parents do to drop their kids off.
“[MCPS] runs a lot of empty buses these days,” Floreen said. “I don’t know what the answer is but I just see it over and over again as a problem. A lot of driving on neighborhood streets at a speed that doesn’t work.”
Department of Transportation officials agreed with Floreen’s assessment. Director Art Holmes said he’s spoken to parents who drive their kids to school despite living a block or two blocks away from the school.
“The fact that people choose to drive their kids and not use the big yellow bus, there’s not a lot we can do about that other than make those routes safer,” MCDOT Engineering Chief Emil Wolanin told Floreen. “I think in this county, when it’s raining you see a lot more people driving their kid to school than walking.”
How does your kid get to school? If your kid’s school is in walking distance, are unsafe traffic and road conditions a reason why you prefer to drive?
Let us know in the poll and comments section below:
