@ Getting to school - bus vs. private car

[redheadbaker]

Some good news: www.inquirer.com/business/get-rid-of-car-sales-ownership-philadelphia-20240209.html

After a surge in car-buying statewide at the height of the pandemic, there are signs that some Philadelphians ... have made the decision to do away with their cars in recent years, bucking larger trends.

[wawa]

Feb 21, 2024 16:08:03 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Some good news: www.inquirer.com/business/get-rid-of-car-sales-ownership-philadelphia-20240209.html

After a surge in car-buying statewide at the height of the pandemic, there are signs that some Philadelphians ... have made the decision to do away with their cars in recent years, bucking larger trends.

Philly has the worst parking culture of anywhere I've done work. (Which is a lot of cities). A++++ to people not having so many damn cars. Somebody tell the old guard in south Philly.

[vmars]

Feb 19, 2024 10:16:03 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

My community pretty much doesn’t have school buses. The entire district is 2.5 square miles and in NJ you have to live 2 miles away or cross a 4 lane road (there isn’t a single 4 lane road in my town) to qualify for busing. For the elementary school a handful of people qualify for a bus since that school is on one edge of town so families on the far other edge get bused, but that’s fewer than 40 kids total out of 400-500 in the elementary school. The middle school was built in the dead center of town in 1935, and was deliberately placed to be walking distance for everyone.

However, sometime between when I was here and my kids started a lot more parents started driving their kids instead of having them bike/walk, which is weird to me. When I was in middle school it was embarrassing to be driven to school unless it was rainy or really cold, but that mindset has changed.

Are you in FH? This is where I grew up and my parents and brother still live there.

[erbear]

Feb 21, 2024 20:19:41 GMT -5 wawa said:

Feb 21, 2024 16:08:03 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Some good news: www.inquirer.com/business/get-rid-of-car-sales-ownership-philadelphia-20240209.html

After a surge in car-buying statewide at the height of the pandemic, there are signs that some Philadelphians ... have made the decision to do away with their cars in recent years, bucking larger trends.

Philly has the worst parking culture of anywhere I've done work. (Which is a lot of cities). A++++ to people not having so many damn cars. Somebody tell the old guard in south Philly.

And for the love of god, get then to stop parking in the middle of Broad!

[penguingrrl]

Feb 21, 2024 21:03:56 GMT -5 vmars said:

Feb 19, 2024 10:16:03 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

My community pretty much doesn’t have school buses. The entire district is 2.5 square miles and in NJ you have to live 2 miles away or cross a 4 lane road (there isn’t a single 4 lane road in my town) to qualify for busing. For the elementary school a handful of people qualify for a bus since that school is on one edge of town so families on the far other edge get bused, but that’s fewer than 40 kids total out of 400-500 in the elementary school. The middle school was built in the dead center of town in 1935, and was deliberately placed to be walking distance for everyone.

However, sometime between when I was here and my kids started a lot more parents started driving their kids instead of having them bike/walk, which is weird to me. When I was in middle school it was embarrassing to be driven to school unless it was rainy or really cold, but that mindset has changed.

Are you in FH? This is where I grew up and my parents and brother still live there.

Next door in LS, so very close!

[turkturkleton]

Feb 21, 2024 21:59:23 GMT -5 erbear said:

Feb 21, 2024 20:19:41 GMT -5 wawa said:

Philly has the worst parking culture of anywhere I've done work. (Which is a lot of cities). A++++ to people not having so many damn cars. Somebody tell the old guard in south Philly.

And for the love of god, get then to stop parking in the middle of Broad!

We all know that's never ever ever going to happen. They will buy cars even if they don't drive just to park them on a median somewhere so they can complain about the PPA giving them a ticket for several years.

[shauni27]

Feb 20, 2024 17:51:52 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Speaking to how to get things done and where I live - Regular every day citizens are VERY HIGHLY invested and involved in the local government. I've been to meetings with other municipalities and it's always commented on. Same with people who move here to work for the City, it's one of the first things they say, "Wow, people are highly involved here aren't they?"

I think a lot of people don't realize just how much one persistent voice can do in local government.

this is so key. We were talking about this last night. How the city council meetings are at 7 pm, just when we put our child to bed. It is difficult to get to meetings at that time for folks with young kids and elderly folks who do not drive at night, but it is so important. If you cannot make the meetings, send letters/emails. Keep it up, be persistent! 

Our elementary school is walkable for the neighborhood that it is in, however, we are very rural, with most folks needing to go 2-4 miles to get to that neighborhood. The other district elementary is not walkable for almost anyone. The middle school is 6 (highway)miles away for us. Fortunately, we have pretty good busses, however, the new issue is that just last week a student was hit by a car crossing a busy road to get to the bus because the car did not stop. So now all parents are required to wait with their kids for the bus for safety reasons up to a certain age (the child struck was in middle school.)

[pixy0stix]

Feb 22, 2024 9:07:55 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Feb 20, 2024 17:51:52 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Speaking to how to get things done and where I live - Regular every day citizens are VERY HIGHLY invested and involved in the local government. I've been to meetings with other municipalities and it's always commented on. Same with people who move here to work for the City, it's one of the first things they say, "Wow, people are highly involved here aren't they?"

I think a lot of people don't realize just how much one persistent voice can do in local government.

this is so key. We were talking about this last night. How the city council meetings are at 7 pm, just when we put our child to bed. It is difficult to get to meetings at that time for folks with young kids and elderly folks who do not drive at night, but it is so important. If you cannot make the meetings, send letters/emails. Keep it up, be persistent! 

Our elementary school is walkable for the neighborhood that it is in, however, we are very rural, with most folks needing to go 2-4 miles to get to that neighborhood. The other district elementary is not walkable for almost anyone. The middle school is 6 (highway)miles away for us. Fortunately, we have pretty good busses, however, the new issue is that just last week a student was hit by a car crossing a busy road to get to the bus because the car did not stop. So now all parents are required to wait with their kids for the bus for safety reasons up to a certain age (the child struck was in middle school.)

I keep thinking we need to flip the script - that every time a vehicle hits a pedestrian that the road should be closed or restricted for use. It's rarely the pedestrians fault, so punish the people that actually cause the accident. There's just not enough punitive measures for car drivers.

[aurora]

I live in a pretty walk- and bike-friendly city with good pedestrian infrastructure, excellent public transit, and decent weather. I walk to the bus myself to commute to work. The only times of day it is problematic are school pick-up and drop-off. The hundreds of parents driving their children to the nearby high school, middle school, and elementary school (all <1 mile from my house on residential streets) in concentrated lines are the ones who cause the safety issues.

[wawa]

Feb 22, 2024 9:16:32 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Feb 22, 2024 9:07:55 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

this is so key. We were talking about this last night. How the city council meetings are at 7 pm, just when we put our child to bed. It is difficult to get to meetings at that time for folks with young kids and elderly folks who do not drive at night, but it is so important. If you cannot make the meetings, send letters/emails. Keep it up, be persistent! 

Our elementary school is walkable for the neighborhood that it is in, however, we are very rural, with most folks needing to go 2-4 miles to get to that neighborhood. The other district elementary is not walkable for almost anyone. The middle school is 6 (highway)miles away for us. Fortunately, we have pretty good busses, however, the new issue is that just last week a student was hit by a car crossing a busy road to get to the bus because the car did not stop. So now all parents are required to wait with their kids for the bus for safety reasons up to a certain age (the child struck was in middle school.)

I keep thinking we need to flip the script - that every time a vehicle hits a pedestrian that the road should be closed or restricted for use. It's rarely the pedestrians fault, so punish the people that actually cause the accident. There's just not enough punitive measures for car drivers.

we have bus "red light running" cameras now in some places in MD and the fines are $250. In theory that should be a deterrent, but I haven't seen the over time data yet to know if it's helping.

Also I honestly have no idea how a parent is supposed to save a child from getting hit by a car just by being at the stop?  It's not as if adult pedestrians don't also get hit. People in cars who do dumb shit like come flying around behind buses and pass them are going to take out the parent too.  Are they superman?  Gonna pull a twilight parking lot move? Psychically know that a driver isn't stopping?  I saw a LOT of "well I'll slow down like i'm GONNA stop, and then speed up again and blow by because I can't fucking be bothered" drivers when I had to do study this topic.  Also drivers who pulled AROUND one stopped driver and blew by.  IME, most of it is NOT predictable driver behavior such that a grownup holding a hand would help.  Not to spike anybody's anxiety, but that's a non-solution solution.

[vmars]

Feb 21, 2024 22:07:20 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Feb 21, 2024 21:03:56 GMT -5 vmars said:

Are you in FH? This is where I grew up and my parents and brother still live there.

Next door in LS, so very close!

Oh yeah I remember now, I found a message from 9 years ago when we realized we are from the same area lol.

[penguingrrl]

Feb 22, 2024 13:47:05 GMT -5 vmars said:

Feb 21, 2024 22:07:20 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Next door in LS, so very close!

Oh yeah I remember now, I found a message from 9 years ago when we realized we are from the same area lol.

I remember that! Although I can’t believe it’s been 9 years!!!

[pinkdutchtulips]

We haven't had school buses in the SF Bay Area for YEARS! Even when I was in HS in the early 90's, the only bus service were public buses. Quite the change from suburban Philadelphia where we had bus service and 'late' buses for after school activities. 

I had to drive my daughter to school or do a carpool/Uber if I couldn't drive her due to conflicts with my work schedule. 

[vmars]

Feb 22, 2024 14:47:13 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Feb 22, 2024 13:47:05 GMT -5 vmars said:

Oh yeah I remember now, I found a message from 9 years ago when we realized we are from the same area lol.

I remember that! Although I can’t believe it’s been 9 years!!!

Time flies! I am in Point now, I love it, it’s like a beachy FH haha.

[penguingrrl]

Feb 22, 2024 17:38:03 GMT -5 vmars said:

Feb 22, 2024 14:47:13 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I remember that! Although I can’t believe it’s been 9 years!!!

Time flies! I am in Point now, I love it, it’s like a beachy FH haha.

That’s such a great area!