![]() Factors Contributing to Traffic Congestion Around Schools Child pedestrian injuries due to traffic are more likely to occur in settings with high traffic volume and on-street parking, with children's often emerging "masked" from behind parked cars 7. More importantly, congestion can be a source of traffic crashes and child pedestrian injuries and deaths 6. Traffic congestion alone causes inconvenience to drivers, leads to lost time from the job, and can contribute to "road rage." In addition to affecting parent drivers and other commuters, school traffic congestion is a source of problems for students, school staff, residents in and around schools, and local police charged with enforcing traffic laws and responding to problems raised by residents and schools. Other factors include changes in school purposes and populations, new school construction, the addition or elimination of busing, and the overall physical infrastructure, street layout, and traffic signs and signals surrounding a school. As described below, an increase in children taken to school by car is just one contributing factor to the problem. In both countries, the rate of increase in car transportation of children to school has been significant, often creating serious traffic congestion problems 5. In the United Kingdom, the share of children taken to school by car is estimated to be between one-third 3 and one-half 4. In the United States, roughly three-quarters of school-aged children are taken to school by car 2. The most obvious cause of traffic congestion around schools is vehicles, and the biggest source of those vehicles is parents' dropping off and picking up their children from school. School-related traffic congestion and the risks such congestion poses to the safety of the students, teachers, parents, residents, and motorists in and around school locations is a significant problem in communities both throughout the United States and abroad. While the issue of new school construction is beyond this guide's scope, several resources offer guidance on the best way to design parking, drop-off, and pick-up areas, and procedures to ensure children's safe and speedy transport to and from new schools in the planning stages 1. As with many crime, disorder, and public nuisance problems, the best way to prevent school traffic congestion is to "design it out" during the school site-planning stage. For the most up-to-date listing of current and future guides, see Finally, it is important to emphasize that this guide assumes that you are interested in solving a school traffic problem that already exists. ![]() Some of these related problems are covered in other guides in this series, all of which are listed at the end of this guide. Reckless driving, speeding, and traffic violations associated with high school students driving themselves to and from school.Sometimes school congestion creates speeding in the larger vicinity, as frustrated parents and commuters try to make up for lost time associated with the congestion. ![]() Related problems not directly addressed in this guide, each of which requires separate analysis, include the following: This guide is limited to addressing the particular harms school traffic congestion creates. School traffic congestion is but one aspect of a larger set of problems related to school traffic. This guide therefore focuses primarily on causes of and ways to prevent traffic around these subsets of schools, although most responses could apply to a wide range of educational institutions. A thorough review of the research indicates that the vast majority of problems pertaining to school traffic congestion occur in middle and elementary schools. While routes to and from school are examined in the context of this problem, most of this guide is devoted to problems occurring in the immediate vicinity of the schools that generate trafficrelated problems. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem, and what is known about them from evaluative research and local practice.įor the purposes of this guide, schoolrelated traffic congestion is defined as the overcrowding and blocking of streets on or near school property that is typically associated with car transportation of children to and from school. It then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze your local problem. ![]() This guide begins by describing the problem and reviewing the factors that increase the risks of school traffic congestion. PDF Guide Order Bound Copy The Problem of Traffic Congestion Around Schools What This Guide Does and Does Not Cover Traffic Congestion Around Schools Guide No.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |