Road Safety & Vision Zero Plan

[crs1026]

The drive to school thing is complicated by the growing number of students who don't attend the school closest to their residence.

We boomers generally walked to school because we attended the local public school, which was nearby (albeit on the other side of a steep mountain, across a raging river, and so forth).

It is truly a problem. In my part of the city, the biggest part of rush hour clearly revolves around school hours. And the biggest pressure for road safety improvements is right outside the local schools, not the roads leading to them.....loading zones, no standing zones, even No U-turn zones in front of the schools.

- Paul

 

[PL1]

The drive to school thing is complicated by the growing number of students who don't attend the school closest to their residence.

We boomers generally walked to school because we attended the local public school, which was nearby (albeit on the other side of a steep mountain, across a raging river, and so forth).

It is truly a problem. In my part of the city, the biggest part of rush hour clearly revolves around school hours. And the biggest pressure for road safety improvements is right outside the local schools, not the roads leading to them.....loading zones, no standing zones, even No U-turn zones in front of the schools.

- Paul

Many new buildings don't allow attendance at the closest high school. For example, students living in new builds near Yonge and Sheppard have to attend Georges Vanier near Don Mills and Sheppard , rather than Earl Haig.

 

[afransen]

Here's a concept: have the kids walk/bike to school. I realize it's an 'ok boomer' moment, but when I went to school in North York, the only kid I recall getting a ride was because he had leg braces from polio. Parents simply didn't drive their kids, and that is from an era when the mother was typically stay-at-home. I was about 2.5 km from junior high (6-9); fairly close to high school but because of some of the programs the school offered, some students came from many kilometers away - no parent drove.

At the house we just moved from, our next door neighbour jumped in her car and drove to pick up their able-bodied kid from the school bus - four houses away.

Fair point about the police/parking authority doing enforcement, if the bylaw legislation is in place. The problem can be every school can potentially have the same congestion and exactly the same time(s), every day.

There would be evidentiary problems with having crossing guards taking photos. Besides, I would rather the crossing guard focus on their primary job of protecting the kids while crossing.

Part of the problem is that it has become socially and possibly legally taboo to allow children to be unattended in public until they are quite old.

'Free Range' Parents Found Responsible for Child Neglect After Allowing Kids to Walk Home Alone

A Maryland couple who was being investigated for allowing their two children to walk home alone from a neighborhood park have been "found responsible for child neglect."

abcnews.go.com

Connecticut parents arrested for letting kids, ages 7 and 9, walk to Dunkin' Donuts

"I have never felt threatened by a single person in this town until meeting those officers and the social worker."

reason.com

Child services grills Winnipeg mom after she let her kids play alone in their fenced-in backyard

'We’ve taught both the (older) kids so far that you look after each other. That’s kind of the point. The older ones should be looking after the younger ones'

nationalpost.com

 

[Northern Light]

Part of the problem is that it has become socially and possibly legally taboo to allow children to be unattended in public until they are quite old.

'Free Range' Parents Found Responsible for Child Neglect After Allowing Kids to Walk Home Alone

A Maryland couple who was being investigated for allowing their two children to walk home alone from a neighborhood park have been "found responsible for child neglect."

abcnews.go.com

Connecticut parents arrested for letting kids, ages 7 and 9, walk to Dunkin' Donuts

"I have never felt threatened by a single person in this town until meeting those officers and the social worker."

reason.com

Child services grills Winnipeg mom after she let her kids play alone in their fenced-in backyard

'We’ve taught both the (older) kids so far that you look after each other. That’s kind of the point. The older ones should be looking after the younger ones'

nationalpost.com

Such nonsense must be curtailed.

I got my house keys at the age of 9.

Walked home from school alone, in grade 4; ...............On Fridays, got home, fed the cats, then headed back out to take the subway downtown, to meet my parents, divorced at that point, but who would humour their kid who wanted family time by agreeing to have dinner together with me downtown after work.

I would go find my mom, after exiting King Station at her office off Toronto Street.

Then together we would go meet my dad at the restaurant.

Helicopter parenting is not wise or helpful in most cases; and certainly empowering one's children, as appropriate by age and individual circumstance should not be penalized.

 

[afransen]

I think many parents don't want to take the helicopter approach, but they are bullied into it by social expectations. I do believe the US is worse in this regard, and some of the change in Canada is spill-over from the US. This is one reason why I care so much about creating safer infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, as this is what makes it safer for children to regain their freedom, and their parents to regain their freedom from having to ferry their kids around.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I think many parents don't want to take the helicopter approach, but they are bullied into it by social expectations. I do believe the US is worse in this regard, and some of the change in Canada is spill-over from the US. This is one reason why I care so much about creating safer infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, as this is what makes it safer for children to regain their freedom, and their parents to regain their freedom from having to ferry their kids around.

Canada is the 12th safest country in the world.
Afghanistan is the 163rd safest country and at the bottom in the world.
Russia is the 160th.
The United States of America is the 129th safest country in the world.
Iceland is the safest at number 1.

From link.

We shouldn't be copying America.

 

[facepalming_brooklynite]

The Toronto District School Board requires children to be picked up from school (up until grade 5, I think).

 

[lenaitch]

The drive to school thing is complicated by the growing number of students who don't attend the school closest to their residence.

We boomers generally walked to school because we attended the local public school, which was nearby (albeit on the other side of a steep mountain, across a raging river, and so forth).

It is truly a problem. In my part of the city, the biggest part of rush hour clearly revolves around school hours. And the biggest pressure for road safety improvements is right outside the local schools, not the roads leading to them.....loading zones, no standing zones, even No U-turn zones in front of the schools.

- Paul

Agree. In ye olden days, lower-grade schools had their catchment area - period. If you lived here, you went to school there; there were no special programs. Certainly, in high school, things got more complicated because of various programs on offer that couldn't be replicated at every location. I went to Northview Heights (Finch and Bathurst) that had a massive shop wing as well as a computer (also massive, but all computers were back then) and we had kids coming from as far away as Yonge and damned near the 401 and the east side of Yonge which would have normally been Earl Haig territory.

Many new buildings don't allow attendance at the closest high school. For example, students living in new builds near Yonge and Sheppard have to attend Georges Vanier near Don Mills and Sheppard , rather than Earl Haig.

That's bizarre. I can only speculate that it is a capacity issue.

The Toronto District School Board requires children to be picked up from school (up until grade 5, I think).

Hence, the problem. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if the approaches to every school mimicked a NASCAR pit lane but. alas, they don't.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The Toronto District School Board requires children to be picked up from school (up until grade 5, I think).

Think its age 10.

 

[christiesplits]

The drive to school thing is complicated by the growing number of students who don't attend the school closest to their residence.

We boomers generally walked to school because we attended the local public school, which was nearby (albeit on the other side of a steep mountain, across a raging river, and so forth).

It is truly a problem. In my part of the city, the biggest part of rush hour clearly revolves around school hours. And the biggest pressure for road safety improvements is right outside the local schools, not the roads leading to them.....loading zones, no standing zones, even No U-turn zones in front of the schools.

- Paul

Many new buildings don't allow attendance at the closest high school. For example, students living in new builds near Yonge and Sheppard have to attend Georges Vanier near Don Mills and Sheppard , rather than Earl Haig.

Also, add to it the number of boutique TDSB programs that require further travel. My neighbour's son travels nearly an hour a day by TTC to attend a special STEM program.

 

[PL1]

That's bizarre. I can only speculate that it is a capacity issue.

That is indeed the reason. No room (or at least none guaranteed) at the local school.

 

[crs1026]

That is indeed the reason. No room (or at least none guaranteed) at the local school.

We collect Section 37 funds from projects on the premise that new housing will increase demand for infrastructure such as local schools - but then we fail to spend the money on those incremental needs.

- Paul

 

[W. K. Lis]

We collect Section 37 funds from projects on the premise that new housing will increase demand for infrastructure such as local schools - but then we fail to spend the money on those incremental needs.

- Paul

If there are no local schools, they end up needing more school buses.

However, it can get worse. Worse by having more motorists (parents) drive their kids to and from school. This is from Philly...

Philly schools will pay $300 a month to parents who drive their kids to school​

From link.

The program aims to help combat a bus driver shortage.​

The School District of Philadelphia will pay parents to drive their kids to school.

It’s called the “Parent Flat Rate Program.”

Under the program guidelines, families will receive $300 a month per household to transport their own child(ren) to and from school daily.

According to the school district, approximately 101,000 students use transportation to get to school.

55,000 use SEPTA fare cards, 33,000 use the yellow buses or other school vehicles; and the remaining 13,000 are enrolled in the flat rate program.

The district currently employs 210 bus drivers, which is down from 227 last year.

To combat the shortages, the district has incentivized the job hoping to get more applicants to fill the 105 bus driver vacancies.

The hope is that the program will reduce the number of students who need buses.

Starting salaries begin at $23,400 for part-time drivers, and $44,880 for full-time.

The district will also offer drivers Commercial Driver’s License training through a pipeline program which can take up to 45 days. Trainees could earn $18,720.

The district hopes the program, which they first piloted in 2020, will help offset the number of driver shortages.

Families must enroll in the Parent Flat Rate Program and submit a monthly form requesting service.


Open enrollment is underway until September 30.

 

[DSC]

We collect Section 37 funds from projects on the premise that new housing will increase demand for infrastructure such as local schools - but then we fail to spend the money on those incremental needs.

- Paul

The problem is that School Boards have (older) under-used schools that nobody wants to close or even reduce in size and a need for NEW schools in areas experiencing high development pressures. They cannot afford to operate both.

 

[W. K. Lis]

When fire gutted the original York Memorial Collegiate Institute in May 2019, they used the disused Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy, formerly known as Scarlett Heights Collegiate Institute, before moving into the George Harvey Collegiate Institute building.

Most old school buildings are used as temporary locations as the older school buildings are being upgraded, or rebuilt.

(BTW. Scarlett Heights was the old high school for Rob & Doug Ford, when they didn't skip classes.)