A truly innovative, and also so lovingly old fashioned, the walking school bus and the bike train is the elegant solution to safely getting to school for children, and one of our board members is involved in organizing this great alternative to walking or biking alone.
Here is an excerpt from the Bee article describing this and other methods of getting to school that don’t involve driving, like back-in-the-day for many of us old-timers, when walking or biking to school was the method of almost everyone.
“Reid Briggs, principal of Pleasant Grove Middle School in the Rescue area, said the number of students walking and biking, as well as riding skateboards and scooters, to the campus has increased significantly since a sidewalk was installed along heavily traveled Green Valley Road near the school.
"Today, there are nine bikes out there. In past years, we would have had none," Briggs said on a recent cold, foggy day.
“The number of students walking to school has increased from two or three to about 30, Briggs said.
“In suburban communities like El Dorado Hills, where many students are walking or biking to school, Barton recommends educational programs to boost the number.
“Rebecca Garrison, executive director of the 50 Corridor Transportation Management Association [and ARPPS Board Member], works with schools in El Dorado County and the Folsom Cordova Unified School District to promote activities such as the annual Walk to School Day in October. She encourages schools to organize "walking school buses" and "bike trains."
