Eagle Editorial
Published: March 20, 2008

An economic downturn presents challenges, but it also offers opportunities – folks are forced to get creative. (More on the “creative” part later.)

Belt tightening is occurring. For example, Madison County school officials first proposed buying two school buses in their new budget, then whittled the proposal down to one. It’s just a single example of several steps taken to trim their proposed annual spending increase, bringing it down to $828,849 from an earlier proposed jump of $1.18 million.

Having one less new school bus isn’t ideal – the existing fleet will rack up more miles; more breakdowns will occur. Yet it’s the same situation Madison County’s families face – it would be nice to have a new car, but it’s wiser to put off buying one a little longer. You adjust things to what you can afford.

On the subject of cutting school transportation costs, we have one long-range suggestion. This is where the creative part enters. It will only work for the older students living within just a few miles of the schools, but it offers a win-win-win-win idea for taxpayers, the school system, the environment and the students themselves.

The suggestion? Make it easier for the families who want to have their children walk or ride bikes to school.

The idea is being advanced all around the country by the Safe Routes to School movement. It’s a simple, but time-tested concept. A national partnership promoting the cause points out that a generation ago, half of students either regularly walked or biked to school, but now only 15 percent do. With only Madison’s elementary school currently accessible by sidewalk, it could well be closer to one percent here. (Learn more about the partnership by visiting www.saferoutespartnership.org.)

Walking or biking to school also helps turn around the troubling trend of ever-increasing childhood obesity; plus, physical activity increases one’s sense of well-being, facilitating learning. It cuts transportation costs, decreases traffic and lowers emissions.

Yet with no sidewalks or trails of any kind connecting the middle-high school complex to downtown Madison or any other areas, the challenge to walk or bike there is significant. And the traffic lights at where Fairground Road and Mountaineer Lane cross U.S. 29 don’t even have signals for pedestrians. Wouldn’t it cost Madison’s taxpayers a lot to make their schools pedestrian and cyclist friendly?

Maybe not. The U.S. Congress is giving VDOT $13.2 million over five years to make Virginia’s schools more pedestrian-bicycle friendly – both through infrastructure and education. Local officials, such as Madison’s, can apply for this money, which does not require any local matching funds. Looking nearby, Charlottesville’s Greenbriar Elementary School has already taken advantage of the program.

This program’s 2008 grant application period begins in April. We urge local officials to apply for a share of this money. With brand new sidewalks downtown, it would be fantastic to link them to the schools. At the very least, enough money might be made available to get pedestrian signals installed at either the Fairground Road-U.S. 29 intersection or at the Mountaineer Lane-U.S. 29 one. This would also improve the safety of children walking or biking to the county’s new 11-field athletic complex opening next year behind the primary school.

Of course, even with new sidewalks, trails and signals, the majority of Madison’s bus-riding students still couldn’t walk or bike to school. But at least those who live closer to the schools who want to walk or ride their bikes could – something that is now impractical.