SCHOOL TRANSPORT

Remember the ‘Blueline fiasco’ in Delhi? As the ‘accident prone’ private buses were taken off the roads, people waited for hours to reach their destinations. Surely, a number of you must have reached late to school. But wait a minute! How many of you actually travel to school by a public bus? Or even a school bus. Obviously not too many of you. Otherwise why would we have huge traffic jams outside schools, when the day begins or gets over? Apart from buses, scores of private cars and two wheelers gather outside schools at these times adding to the congestion. What is the school’s responsibility in this and how can schools help in mitigating these congestions? And, is it only a question of congestion? Let us find out a few solutions:

SOLUTION NO. 1 (Short term): Unravelling the knot

Gobar Times talked to the authorities of few schools and found that most of them deploy their school security to manage the ‘school jams’. Security people and the school transport incharge see to it that nobody parks obstructing the way of others and that the children are safe. But, will just localised parking and traffic management solve the problem? With public transport going haywire by the day, more and more parents are dropping their kids to the school in cars adding to the jams. So, what is the real long-term solution.

Jump in a car pool! Car pool has become the buzzword in schools. Gobar Times spoke to a few students who have opted for this at Presentation Convent, New Delhi. Tarfa, a student said that she came to know of a friend who stays nearby and they started a pool, which now includes four people. They have a sharing system in which some pay for the driver, and others pay for the petrol. Another student told us that people in her group get cars on alternate days. There are also some mixed pools (teachers and students share the vehicle).

SOLUTION NO.2 (Long term) – Promote car pools and school bus

Apart from regular traffic management, the school can aggresively urge students to use school buses or opt for car pools. As more number of people use mass means, the number of vehicles outside the school would decrease. Many schools are keen on this long-term solution. Geetika, environment teacher at Sanskriti School told Gobar Times that the notice board outside the school gate has notices put up to look out for car pool partners. It is also a matter of convenience as not all people living in the same area can share a common vehicle. Usually working parents drop the kids to office and the homemakers pick them up. That’s how most pools work. And the fever has caught on with the teachers as well. When Gobar Times contacted, Meena Jethi, the environment teacher at Presentation Convent, New Delhi, she was enjoying a ride home in her teachers’ car pool’.

Congestion, of course. But what about climate change?

The emissions of greenhouse gases by vehicles is a major contribution to global warming. The emissions of vehicles plying to a school is that institution’s contribution to climate change. That’s the inconvenient truth. And hence, if students and teachers of the school walk to work, the school’s emissions are lower. Check out the emission chart above to find out where your school stands. The per capita emissions of carbon dioxide for bus is far lower than that of a car. So, the next time your school thinks of taking out a rally on climate change and global warming, focus on the issue of transport and urge people to switch to foot or public transport.


SOLUTION NO.3 (The sustainable solution): Walk/Cycle to school

The most sustainable solution is perhaps to walk or cycle to school. No vehicles - no emissions. Remember, going to school on foot is not only a healthy option for you but for the planet as well. But then Gobar Times met Kuttush, who travels from Gurgaon to Delhi to come to school. She asked “How can I walk or cycle such a huge distance”. Good question! How would people walk from one end of the city to the other? And then we saw one point in the report of BK Ganguly, CBSE Chairman, on nursery admissions, which had great environmental ramifications. It says that maximum weightage for admissions should be given to children staying near the school (within 3 kilometers) as they can walk or cycle to the school. So, then Kuttush should actually take admission in a school in Gurgaon rather than travelling to Delhi. Staying near the school would also benefit Kuttush as she would not have to spent hours in just travelling from home to school.

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