Encouraging Biking/Walking to Schools

(Click to enlarge photos)


This morning my daughter and I rode our Schwinn tandem to Highlands Elementary to count the bike racks as part of a community project. There were 3 racks with a capacity of 37 bikes. We also measured the distance between the racks and the front door: 130 yards. Highland is an excellent school and we appreciate the talented staff, volunteers, and families that make the school a gem in our community. The improvement we'd like to see is related to the transportation infrastructure...there are opportunities for encouraging more biking and walking to for both children and adults.

My kids say that the racks are usually full on school days. We know of one adult worker that bikes to the school. My personal trips to the school are always by foot or bike. Why isn't that more common for other adults and children? Out of more than 500 students and perhaps 100 adult workers and volunteer on any given day, it is no wonder that there is a crammed parking lot full of cars and a congested traffic scene with buses and cars before and after school. Plus, parking for cars spills out into the streets for some after-school events.

Why might our community benefit by having a higher percentage of bikers to the schools? I'm not advocating that everyone bikes or walks to school, but imagine the outcomes if 80% would do that. Close your eyes and think about it for 15 seconds...what do you envision? Here are some points to ponder for encouraging more biking and walking to schools.

1. Did you know that 14 bikes comfortably fit in one average car parking space? Imagine your school parking lot being free of congestion, quieter, safer, and healthier.
   
2. If children (and parents) think it is important to be driven everywhere, even if it is less than 2 miles, what lesson are children learning about mobility? Instead, teach them safe riding skills, such as those we recently covered at the Edina Bike Rodeo. Get involved as parents for learning and teaching safe skills. And encourage more walking too.
   
3. Related to the above point: "Ninety percent of trips by children today are made as a passenger in a car. This low level of walking and biking impacts children’s health, independence and ability to learn walking and bicycling skills" (Transit for Livable Communities).
   
4. Child obesity: Children overall are more sedentary today than every before, leading to 17% being overweight.
   
5. Safe Routes to Schools is a popular program spreading across Canada and the U.S. designed to decrease traffic and pollution and increase the health of children and the community (reference). Check it out and consider integrating with you school's and your community's planning.
   
6. Ensure that streets near schools are exhibit the "complete street" features which are explanied very well by the Thunderhead Alliance. From the site: "Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street." Ironcially, the streets near Highland have no sidewalks. Our community is working to correct this problem.
   
7. Offer a few minor adjustments in the bathrooms for commuters to clean up...or offer a changing/clean-up area for men and women. This can be accommodated in a number of cost-efficient ways.
   
8. Offer more and better bicycle parking options. Think of faculty, parents, and volunteers. What makes sense for these people for bicycle parking?
   

Efforts such as the above contribute to overall reduction in our nation's (and planet's) consumption of natural resources, reduces demand for oil, reduces greenhouse gasses such as CO2, reduces motorist traffic, reduces noise, reduces pollution, increases more social contact with others during commutes, increases exercise, decreases obesity, teaches important mobility skills that can provide lifelong value, builds muscle mass, increases heart health, and develops good thinking and reasoning skills for children that learn to safely navigate their bicyclces. Oh, and biking is fun.

Please contact me if you'd like to discuss further: Kirk@BikeEdina.org. And, I welcome comments posted on this blog. Thanks for your interest!