2011 school transportation report

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School Transportation Report 2011 Safe Routes to School, Lexington Public Schools Transportation, Lexpress Summary How do Lexington's nearly 6400 students get to and from school? Is the transportation method a function of their particular school, day of the week, grade, or morning versus afternoon? Why does your student take the school bus? Why not? Together, the Lexington Sidewalk Committee's Safe Routes To School (SRTS) program, Lexington Public Schools (LPS), and Lexpress sponsored a parent survey in March 2011 in order to better understand how well our present public school transportation system serves the needs of our students. The goal of the anonymous survey is to gather information on how to best improve issues such as traffic congestion and safety at our nine neighborhood schools. The last survey of this nature was performed in 2002 by the Lexington No- Idling Committee and the Lexington PTA/PTO Presidents Board. Of the approximately 4,100 Lexington public school families surveyed using the LPS Global Connect system, the response rate was 30 %. Based on the tabulated results and comments provided, the overwhelming tone of the survey respondents echoed that our public school community wants change. Parents used the survey to express both their dissatisfaction and approval with the current transportation system. Overall, the culture of what is presently accepted as suitable modes of school transportation need to be modified for the well -being of our students and the community at- large. Collectively, more students need to use the school bus, more students should consider walking or bicycling, and deterrents should be made to drivers in order to decrease the number of vehicles on school grounds. Likewise, the school bus service should be modified in order to better serve its population. Based on the conclusions formulated from the results of the survey, the following action items are suggested as possible solutions. For Improving Transportation Safety • Develop a uniform school arrival/dismissal policy. • Address school bus behavior. • Work closely with LPD and school resource officers. • Provide sturdy, visible bus passes. • Make school zones more visible for vehicular traffic. For Increasing School Bus_ Ridership • Improve communication with the community. • Work towards creating a more flexible afternoon transportation offering. • Promote localized bus stops. • Encourage and promote school bus ridership. For Controlling Costs • 31% of the comments submitted focused on cost. LPS is fully aware that it charges a higher fee than surrounding districts. Understanding this, the authors chose not to include cost as a variable in the survey. In addition, the authors feel that further investigations into sound financial solutions are beyond the capacity of this document except for basic commentary.