Schools

This week, the Safe Routes to School National Conference convenes in Minneapolis, a progressive city determined to become the most bicycle friendly in the nation. But even here, far from the nation’s capital, in a region celebrated for its massive greenway system, drama inside the Beltway has instilled an air of urgency to the event.

Two years ago, the Bronx Helpers decided to take action about a dangerous intersection in their neighborhood. The team of middle and high-schoolers, participants in a community service group run by the New Settlement Apartments, routinely crossed the street at 172nd and Townsend. They all could recount traffic crashes they'd seen at the corner, with some cars coming dangerously close to hitting their friends. The intersection sits between two schools, an afterschool program, and the students' homes, but doesn't even have a visible crosswalk, much less a design prioritizing safety.  With another school under construction at Jerome and 172nd, the need for safety is only going to get more urgent.

Like everyone else, Safe Routes to School advocates are scaling back. Last year, a bill introduced in the Senate asked for $600 million to enhance pedestrian and bike safety near schools. “We were working in a pretty different environment,” said Margo Pedroso, deputy director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. “Everybody was talking about a $500 billion transportation bill. So we figured, we don’t know what the full bill will be in the end, but let’s go for the funding we feel like we need.”

Students at Brooklyn's PS 261 have clocked motorists traveling on Atlantic Avenue at an average midday speed of 38 mph -- and as high as 50 mph. While the city's 30 mph speed limit is a mystery to most New Yorkers, the students knew they were watching people break the law and put others in danger.

A driver struck and killed a 13-year-old girl this morning, apparently as she tried to walk to school. The driver, a male in his 40s, hit the victim on Rockaway Parkway at 7:50 this morning, according to the NYPD. She was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.

The mother of a student at PS 162 in Queens is in critical condition after a driver struck her in front of the school this morning. The crash occurred as the parent was crossing 53rd Avenue between 201st and 202nd Streets at around 9:10 this morning, in view of students and teachers, according to a press release from Council Member Mark Weprin.

This morning, Brooklyn's MS 51 became the first school in the five boroughs to host a bike-to-school day. Students biked in two escorted rides, one starting in Sunset Park and the other in Carroll Gardens, with more riders joining each bike pool at pick-up spots along the way.

The percentage of U.S. students between ages five and 14 who walk or bike to school has remained stable over the past 15 years but remains three-quarters below where it stood 40 years ago, according to a new analysis of government data by two groups working on the Safe Routes to School (SRtS) program.