The real problem with "rebalancing" modes amongst automobiles and others

From this letter to the editor, "Arcola motorists should heed teen's message: Try transit," by John Fay of Wheaton, in the Gazette:

The problem for the people complaining about Arcola seems to be that they believe that roads are there to serve them first, no matter what the effect on the adjoining neighborhoods. Anything that slows down their driving from point A to point B is bad. What is in between those points is of no consequence to them: homes, schools, places of worship, children playing. "Just get out of my way" is their attitude. This holds true throughout the area, not just Arcola. Roads must be widened, intersections "improved," etc., "for me."

This letter is in response to a thread which began with this article, "Lobbying efforts lead to pedestrian safety features," about road narrowing and other actions taken in an area of Silver Spring after a 14 year old boy was hit by a car and killed while walking home from school.

And, I meant to blog about this op-ed, "Teen discovers joys of public transit" by Aaron Burger, a sophomore at Montgomery Blair High School, from last week's Gazette, but I never got around to it. Note that Arlington County Transportation has a teen advisory committee.

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There has also been a very whacked discussion about school busing in DC, on the concerned4dcps yahoogroup. A couple of us think it is crazy to spend in excess of $2 million/year to move children short distances, say from Bunker Hill Elementary to Brookland Elementary for after-school programs (yes I know the traffic on Michigan Avenue is bad) for a variety of reasons.

Get crossing guards, escort the kids. Rather than having make-work "summer jobs for youth" why not create a "Teen Walking Ranger" program where high school students can have jobs as a kind of crossing guard and escort from the children from one school to another?

The millions of dollars to be spent on busing to move kids .6 mile, while suburban districts are starting to require that children walk to school for distances under 1 to 1.5 miles, is a waste, and could and should be spent on enrichment programs (art, reading, music teachers, etc.) rather than on buses, gasoline, maintenance, and drivers.