My School DC New Lottery Data

[Anonymous]

In a city with a public transportation infrastructure already in place I do not think discussing improvements to it is out of place. I realize most of you have driven all your lives and take this as "the way things are," but I am saying it's messed up.

But it self perpetuates. Since you all don't know of any other way to travel, you don't see a problem. Pick up and drop off lines are normal. Walking .8 miles (about 15 minutes) is suddenly difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a city with a public transportation infrastructure already in place I do not think discussing improvements to it is out of place. I realize most of you have driven all your lives and take this as "the way things are," but I am saying it's messed up.

But it self perpetuates. Since you all don't know of any other way to travel, you don't see a problem. Pick up and drop off lines are normal. Walking .8 miles (about 15 minutes) is suddenly difficult.

I am one of the people suggesting that demanding special bus routes for school kids is not reasonable. I was a city kid without a car my whole childhood. I don't have a car (or a driver's license) now. I walk 3/4 of a mile every morning and afternoon with my 5 year old. We have been doing it since she was 3. There are a couple of buses we can take that lessen the walk to about 4 blocks, total. After I drop her off at school, I get on 1 of 3 buses that go from her school to the vicinity of my office. Depending on which bus, sometimes I have to walk as much as 2 blocks to get to my office. When we were looking for schools, I recognized that something that was walkable from our house and accessible to at least 2 different bus lines was essential. That eliminated a lot of schools, but we still had enough to pick from that we had a choice of half a dozen acceptable public options. My kid is perfectly happy to walk the 3/4 of a mile that we walk. Sometimes she listens to music on her headphones, but most mornings, we have a really nice walk together.

It's not that I don't know any other way to travel. It's that I recognize that I already live in a place that has a lot of choices, that has actually made an effort to make as many of them as possible accessible via public transit. People choosing to drive rather than take a bus or walk is not something that the city can really do all that much about. If kids who have to walk 4 blocks are still being driven to school, I don't see how a school bus or a public bus pass is going to solve that problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a city with a public transportation infrastructure already in place I do not think discussing improvements to it is out of place. I realize most of you have driven all your lives and take this as "the way things are," but I am saying it's messed up.

But it self perpetuates. Since you all don't know of any other way to travel, you don't see a problem. Pick up and drop off lines are normal. Walking .8 miles (about 15 minutes) is suddenly difficult.

I am one of the people suggesting that demanding special bus routes for school kids is not reasonable. I was a city kid without a car my whole childhood. I don't have a car (or a driver's license) now. I walk 3/4 of a mile every morning and afternoon with my 5 year old. We have been doing it since she was 3. There are a couple of buses we can take that lessen the walk to about 4 blocks, total. After I drop her off at school, I get on 1 of 3 buses that go from her school to the vicinity of my office. Depending on which bus, sometimes I have to walk as much as 2 blocks to get to my office. When we were looking for schools, I recognized that something that was walkable from our house and accessible to at least 2 different bus lines was essential. That eliminated a lot of schools, but we still had enough to pick from that we had a choice of half a dozen acceptable public options. My kid is perfectly happy to walk the 3/4 of a mile that we walk. Sometimes she listens to music on her headphones, but most mornings, we have a really nice walk together.

It's not that I don't know any other way to travel. It's that I recognize that I already live in a place that has a lot of choices, that has actually made an effort to make as many of them as possible accessible via public transit. People choosing to drive rather than take a bus or walk is not something that the city can really do all that much about. If kids who have to walk 4 blocks are still being driven to school, I don't see how a school bus or a public bus pass is going to solve that problem.

You make some good points. But my snowflake should not have to walk .75 miles in the rain, let alone worse weather! How does yours stand it?
I have the solution--OSSE should reimburse us for the cost of Ubers to get to and from the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a city with a public transportation infrastructure already in place I do not think discussing improvements to it is out of place. I realize most of you have driven all your lives and take this as "the way things are," but I am saying it's messed up.

But it self perpetuates. Since you all don't know of any other way to travel, you don't see a problem. Pick up and drop off lines are normal. Walking .8 miles (about 15 minutes) is suddenly difficult.

I am one of the people suggesting that demanding special bus routes for school kids is not reasonable. I was a city kid without a car my whole childhood. I don't have a car (or a driver's license) now. I walk 3/4 of a mile every morning and afternoon with my 5 year old. We have been doing it since she was 3. There are a couple of buses we can take that lessen the walk to about 4 blocks, total. After I drop her off at school, I get on 1 of 3 buses that go from her school to the vicinity of my office. Depending on which bus, sometimes I have to walk as much as 2 blocks to get to my office. When we were looking for schools, I recognized that something that was walkable from our house and accessible to at least 2 different bus lines was essential. That eliminated a lot of schools, but we still had enough to pick from that we had a choice of half a dozen acceptable public options. My kid is perfectly happy to walk the 3/4 of a mile that we walk. Sometimes she listens to music on her headphones, but most mornings, we have a really nice walk together.

It's not that I don't know any other way to travel. It's that I recognize that I already live in a place that has a lot of choices, that has actually made an effort to make as many of them as possible accessible via public transit. People choosing to drive rather than take a bus or walk is not something that the city can really do all that much about. If kids who have to walk 4 blocks are still being driven to school, I don't see how a school bus or a public bus pass is going to solve that problem.

You make some good points. But my snowflake should not have to walk .75 miles in the rain, let alone worse weather! How does yours stand it?
I have the solution--OSSE should reimburse us for the cost of Ubers to get to and from the school.

I hope you're being sarcastic. In case you were serious, she has rain boots and an umbrella and a raincoat. In the winter, she has a hat and gloves and a scarf and a warm coat. She also has snow boots, for the 5 days a year that they're helpful. And she doesn't complain about it because it's normal to her that we walk. We only take a cab or Uber if we are carrying so much stuff that we can't carry it. This year, that's happened three times: twice when we were bringing snacks for the whole class and once when I was bringing breakfast for teachers.

[Anonymous]

We are in a similar position. I too chose a neighborhood school, easily accessible for us. It is only when that choice, and the other walkable options arpund us, became untenable, that I looked for a different solution. Yours works for a five year old. What if her middle school option involves a three bus commute to go three miles? is it so unreasonable to expect some kind of attention be paid to putting adequate transit points in place for capital city? Latin? Cmi? Its? Ideal charter? Etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a similar position. I too chose a neighborhood school, easily accessible for us. It is only when that choice, and the other walkable options arpund us, became untenable, that I looked for a different solution. Yours works for a five year old. What if her middle school option involves a three bus commute to go three miles? is it so unreasonable to expect some kind of attention be paid to putting adequate transit points in place for capital city? Latin? Cmi? Its? Ideal charter? Etc?

So bus routes to these schools from every neighborhood in the city? What about all the KIPPPs, Friendship, Roots, Bethune, Eagle Academy and the other 100+ charters? What about if my kid in NE gets into Hardy OOB? Multiply that by 70,000. No you need to have adequate bus option to your IB middle school. That is the only thing you're entitled to.

[Anonymous]

So bus routes to these schools from every neighborhood in the city? What about all the KIPPPs, Friendship, Roots, Bethune, Eagle Academy and the other 100+ charters? What about if my kid in NE gets into Hardy OOB? Multiply that by 70,000. No you need to have adequate bus option to your IB middle school. That is the only thing you're entitled to.

I think the word "entitled" is problematic here. It's not a question of being entitled. It's a question of logic. All those schools should have at least one bus, that connects with other transit that coincides with school hours within a block or two of their campuses. And no--that's NOT unreasonable. Other cities manage it just fine. Take existing bus routes, re-route a few blocks, add a stop. Adjust the schedules, make sure they aren't rush-hour only, make sure that schools over a mile from the nearest metro have a connecting option. This is public transportation 101.

If I look on Hopstop it's easier for me to get to Moco schools from my dc house than to use DC buses to get to DC schools. There's a problem. The answer is not for everyone to drive.