By Elizabeth Vandenburg
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"We need help to convince parents and kids to ride the bus or walk or ride a bike to school," said Dean Tisdadt, FCPS chief operating officer and head of facilities and transportation services.
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At Bull Run Elementary School, the car line climbs to 200 some mornings.
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But in an April 7 letter to Griffin, Dale said emphasis should be made on changing parents’ attitudes about driving their children to school so sidewalks and other construction projects would not go to waste.
"Parental and student behaviors remain an obstacle to this goal," Dale said.
Dale’s letter included results from a 2008 online parent survey on Kiss and Ride to show the unwillingness among parents to have their children ride the bus or walk to school:
* 60 percent of designated walkers and 39 percent of designated bus riders were driven to school.
* Of the designated walkers, almost 30 percent said they will continue to use Kiss and Ride even if safety improvements are made.
* Some reasons listed for why Kiss and Ride will continue: heavy backpacks, convenience, inclement weather and letting the kids sleep later.
When asked what would be required to consider getting their kids back on the bus, 61 percent did not choose one of the available responses, leading the school system to conclude there is nothing the schools could do to convince parents not to use Kiss and Ride.
"We can’t even get the current [designated] walkers out of cars," Tistadt said. "We don’t want to build trails to nowhere."
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https://oakton.patch.com/articles/traffic-nightmares-during-schools-arrival-dismissaloldId.20110501195654824
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