The Hawaii Safe Routes to School Hui has made great strides over the past 18 months of our existence.  Enjoy some of these success stories from around the state! Please consider joining the coalition to help make a difference in your community.

Mahalo!

Hawai`i SRTS Network Success Stories

Pedestrian and Bike Ed Support Safe Routes to School Activities.
Elementary students on Hawai`i Island receive potentially life-saving traffic safety education through two standards-based in-school classes taught by trained ambassadors.  PATH, a local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization, who first launched the Bike Ed and Ped Ed courses in 1991 and 1994, respectively; recently revised the programs to honor the already overburdened teaching loads in classrooms.  In addition to course-specific training for both classes and background checks appropriate for those working with children, the Bike Ed instructors all earned their League Cycling Instructor (LCI) certification.  Ped Ed is offered to 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd graders in a one-day program teaching children how to cross the street safely, behave around school buses, and know what to do around a variety of hazards, from mud puddles to strange dogs and people.  Bike Ed is offered in a three-day program where students learn how to fit a helmet – and the critical importance of wearing one, how to check their bike to make sure it’s safe, and how to ride and maneuver a bike.  PATH takes in its fleet of bikes and helmets to insure that all kids get to participate.  

Walking School Bus Success in Kapa’a.
Starting with a handful of walkers, the first-ever Walking School Bus on Kaua`i departed from the Menehune Mart area of Kawaihau Road and picked up steam as it made its way down the Kawaihau plateau, eventually reaching Kapa‘a Elementary School.  The Walking School Bus coincided with the national Walk to School Day, an event designed to address the issues of physical activity, safer communities and environmental health, states a Get Fit Kaua‘i release.  “I guess this means it’s OK to walk to school,” said Bev Brody, the Get Fit Kaua`i island coordinator. “Aside from reduced carbon dioxide, less traffic time and teaching children self-reliance, the most important benefit of walk-to-school programs are the health benefits. It has been proven over and over again that children who engage in regular physical activity perform better academically.”  The program addresses several areas of concern, including obesity and inactivity, physical activity leading to better self-esteem, and reducing passenger transportation.  “This area always gets a high rate of complaints on congestion during the time parents drop off students,” said Kaua`i Police Acting Assistant Chief Ale Quibilan, who joined the walk from the start.  The Patrol Services Bureau set up speed-monitoring points at several locations on Kawaihau Road, the radar-equipped officers not lacking subjects.  “The sad thing is that a lot of the people we stop are parents with kids in the car on the way to school,” one of the monitoring site officers said. “They should look at their child and realize the school zone speed limit is there for the children’s safety.”  Passenger transportation accounts for 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the average American family, states a release from Get Fit Kaua`i. By reducing the number of short car trips like the ride to school, families can be part of slowing climate change.  A mother from Wailua Homesteads was waiting with her daughter at one of the many side streets connecting to Kawaihau Road, noting that her child would be willing to connect with the Walking Bus which is convenient for her because of the connecting points.  The Menehune Mart location was selected because it is the cutoff point for bus service, said another parent waiting at another intersection. By having a program such as the Walking Bus, it alleviates her fears of safety for the child who needs to walk to school because there is an adult, or adults, who are with the children.  Get Fit Kaua`i states that obesity and inactivity, particularly among children, has been identified as one of the nation’s major public health challenges and one of the principal drivers of health-care spending.  Physical activity improves self-esteem, enhances psychological well-being and academic performance, overcomes boredom, and provides positive leisure pursuits, states the release.  Despite these aspects, two-thirds of American children don’t get the 30 to 60 minutes of daily physical activity required for healthy development, the release says.  Brody believes that in addition to the health benefits of walking to school, the children establish healthy habits that will last a lifetime.  Get Fit Kaua`i, in conjunction with the Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition of Kaua`i County’s School Task Force, spearheaded the Tuesday activity which was funded by the Department of Health’s Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative through a contract with the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Office of Public Health Studies, John A. Burns School of Medicine, and the Kaua`i County Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition which first convened in March 2009. 

Safe Routes to School Study Helps Lead to Funds for New Pathway.
Kahakai Elementary School was one of the first three schools in the State of Hawai`i to receive a Safe Routes to School Study back in 1999, when PATH, a bike and pedestrian advocacy group, studied three schools in three districts around the Island of Hawai`i.  In perfect reflection of its name “Kahakai” which means “seaside”, the school sits at sea level, one block up from ocean along the North Kona coastline. From the coast, the land rapidly slopes up to Hualalai – a volcano with a history of being active every 200 years or so with the last eruption in 1800.  The school is at the end of a dead-end street, and until a few years ago, was surrounded only on its south side by an established neighborhood.  The early study found that 9% of students walked to and from school, 50% were driven to school with 38% driven home, and 42% arrived by bus with 54% taking the bus home.  There was a policy against students riding bikes, which PATH was able to change, and through their fund drive to the community new bike racks were installed.  In subsequent SRTS studies of the school in 2003, 2004, and 2005 the number of students walking doubled, and an increasing number of students were riding their bike each year.  The alarming trend was the movement away from bus ridership, and by 2005, 68% of students were arriving to school by car.  Parents cited bullying at bus stops and on the buses and bus driver’s lack of control of students as main reasons for limiting ridership.  However, due to the school’s location at the end of a dead end street, the inadequate parking lot size, the number of cars entering and leaving the school, mixed with a bit of parental impatience and childhood enthusiasm, the traffic environment around the school was unruly and on occasion downright unsafe.  In 2002 a new subdivision was built on the slope above and a little to the north, and the 2003 SRTS study identified two potential pathways from the new neighborhood to school providing a safe walking route – cutting the route from over two miles along roads with steep terrain, to a quarter of a mile pathway at level grade.  In 2007, when Hawai`i Department of Transportation released the request for proposal for SRTS infrastructure projects, this was one of two projects identified from Hawai`i Island, and in March 2010, HDOT “obligated” money for this project. This project is moving forward and is hoped to be in place before the 2011-12 school year. Once opened, this pathway will draw students from two subdivisions that currently have to take the bus or be driven to school – potentially reducing this traffic by 30%.

Re-Launching a Walking Bus Program.
Waikoloa School is located in Waikoloa Village – said to be the largest cul de sac community in the nation with a population around 5,000.  The school is sited at the end of the main entrance into the Village, Paniolo Drive, a wide, hilly, two-lane road with few four-way intersections, fewer crosswalks, incomplete sidewalks, and no bike lanes.  Along its north and east sides, the school is bordered by two streets, Paniolo Drive and Ho`oko Street – to the south and west the campus meet undeveloped land.  PATH’s Safe Routes to School study in the 2006-07 school year found that while 71.3% of students lived close enough to walk to school, and 94.3% lived closed enough to bike, only 18.1% were walking to school with 23.2% walking home, and 4.7% biking to school with 6.3% biking home.  Only 5% rode the bus (These were the highest numbers of students walking and biking to and from school and the lowest number of students riding the bus in the nine schools that had been studied to date). Seventy-two percent of students were driven to school by car and 65.1% were picked up after school by car.  With a then school population of 566, this meant that with teachers and staff, close to 400 cars were hurrying around campus creating traffic congestion during school commute times and Paniolo and Ho`oko.  Paradoxically, it was not surprising that in a survey, 68.7% of parents gave “safety” as their number one reason why they drove their child to school; yet 61.4% were willing to let their child walk if traffic slowed down.  When asked if they would let their child participate in a Walking School Bus Program along designated routes with scheduled stops and adult supervision, an overwhelming 76.5% of parents said “yes”. Only 10.2% said no, with the remaining 13.3% of students living too far to walk. With this high level of support and favorable conditions, during the 2007-08 school year Waikoloa was the first school in the state to offer a Walking School Bus.  The initial study also resulted in the installation of a short sidewalk along Ho`oko Street right at the intersection with support of the district’s councilman.  In the 2009-10 school year, the number of students arriving to school by car (including carpool) increased to 78% with 71% getting home by car.  This is an increase of 6% in car ridership for both commutes.  The number of students walking dropped to 11% to school and 14% to home – a drop of 9% for both commutes.  Skateboards, which were not observed in the 2006-07 count were used by 1% of the students in their to school commute and by 3% going home.   Bus ridership decreased by 1.3% in the morning and increased by 3% in the afternoon.  It is evidenced that some intervention is needed to maintain a high number of students walking and biking to school.  With support from Waikoloa’s principal, the Walking School Bus will be launched this school year, beginning with a Friday program lead by the local councilman, Pete Hoffman.   

County of Kauai Public Works Department Meets with Safe Routes to School Task Force.
The County of Kauai Public Works Department had a successful meeting with the Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition of Kauai County (NPAC) better known as Get Fit Kauai’s Safe Routes to School Task Force in Kapa`a on Tuesday, August 10th.  The meeting involved a walk-about around Kapa`a Elementary School, St. Catherine’s, and Kapa`a High School to address the changes that need to be done to calm traffic in the area and to create safer ways for children to walk or bike to school.  Some of the issues that were discussed in the meeting included: re-striping and repainting crosswalks, improved signage, and improved sign visibility with the addition of flashing lights.  Providing safer routes for keiki to walk and bike to school is of increasing importance due to the recent cut backs in transportation funds by schools.  In a recent assessment of Kapa`a Elementary School, it was found that approximately 80% of the students are driven to school, 17% are bussed or car-pool, and only 3% walk or bike.  As bussing services are cutback, more and more students will be driven to school creating more traffic in and around the schools.  The increase in traffic will decrease safety and increase the amount of air pollution that our children breathe.  More than that, the inability to actively transport to school (walk or bike) will continue to be detrimental to the overall health of our children.  Only 25% of kids get the recommended amount of daily activity. This lack of physical activity is leading to an increase in obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.  In order to get more keiki walking and biking to school the routes to school need to be safer.  (NPAC) Get Fit Kauai has partnered with Kaua`i County Public Works Department and gained support from the Kauai Police Department to ensure that this happens at Kapa`a Elementary.  Approximately eight Public Works professionals attended the Safe Routes to School Task Force meeting to get a visual of what could be done to make the area around Kapa`a Elementary School safer.  The partnership and support of the Public Works department is a big step to increasing visibility of the school zones on the island, and Kaua`i Police Department will show their support by helping enforce the school zone speeds.  The initiation of the Safer Routes to School Program at Kapa`a Elementary will begin with a kickoff event on Wednesday, September 29, 2010. (NPAC) Get Fit Kaua`i will host the first Walk to School Day and Walking School Bus of the 2010-2011 school year.  All Kaua`i schools are encouraged to participate on Wednesday, September 29<sup>th</sup> to show our policy-makers how important Safer Routes to Schools are for keiki!!   This project is supported in part by Communities Putting Prevention to Work – Hawaii improving healthy eating and health activities, creating jobs, and promoting sustainability on the islands of Kaua`i and Maui.