4 ms·

As an American this definitely seems exceptional. I grew up in rural and suburban areas without sidewalks, and biking/walking to school was unheard of. I interp

As an American this definitely seems exceptional. I grew up in rural and suburban areas without sidewalks, and biking/walking to school was unheard of. I interpreted this as just one proof by example that it could work, and as a call to arms for trying it elsewhere.

dboreham 4y ago
Counterexample: in our rural Montana town large numbers of kids bike to school and many more walk. We do have sidewalks and heavy traffic bypasses the town on the interstate.
bnralt 4y ago
I guess it depends on where in America you are. Around here (city), walking and biking to elementary school is pretty common. When you get towards middle school and high school, the distances get larger, so more students take public transportation. School buses are very rare; I don't think I've seen them outside of field trips (though I do think some students take them). Driving always seemed like a less common form of transportation.
- acchow 4y ago
  Here in San Francisco, you have the school physically closest to you and you have the school to which you get assigned. In most cases, they are not the same. So you end up traveling 20-45 minutes by bus. Isn't this the norm in the USA? Which is why there are yellow school buses everywhere?
  - bnralt 4y ago
    Here you have the school closest to you that you have the right to attend, and then you have the option of being on a lottery for schools that a further away. Looking at this[1], it seems like San Francisco is similar, unless I'm misunderstanding something? One problem is that in some parts of the city, the public schools are so bad that people are trying to move to out of boundary schools or charter schools that are further away. But the main issue there is not giving people functional local schools rather than lack of cycling infrastructure (which is actually somewhat developed here). [1] https://www.sfusd.edu/student-assignment-policy/tiebreakers/attendance-area https://www.sfusd.edu/student-assignment-policy/tiebreakers/...

dboreham 4y ago

Counterexample: in our rural Montana town large numbers of kids bike to school and many more walk. We do have sidewalks and heavy traffic bypasses the town on the interstate.

bnralt 4y ago

I guess it depends on where in America you are. Around here (city), walking and biking to elementary school is pretty common. When you get towards middle school and high school, the distances get larger, so more students take public transportation. School buses are very rare; I don't think I've seen them outside of field trips (though I do think some students take them). Driving always seemed like a less common form of transportation.

acchow 4y ago
Here in San Francisco, you have the school physically closest to you and you have the school to which you get assigned. In most cases, they are not the same. So you end up traveling 20-45 minutes by bus. Isn't this the norm in the USA? Which is why there are yellow school buses everywhere?
- bnralt 4y ago
  Here you have the school closest to you that you have the right to attend, and then you have the option of being on a lottery for schools that a further away. Looking at this[1], it seems like San Francisco is similar, unless I'm misunderstanding something? One problem is that in some parts of the city, the public schools are so bad that people are trying to move to out of boundary schools or charter schools that are further away. But the main issue there is not giving people functional local schools rather than lack of cycling infrastructure (which is actually somewhat developed here). [1] https://www.sfusd.edu/student-assignment-policy/tiebreakers/attendance-area https://www.sfusd.edu/student-assignment-policy/tiebreakers/...