The Borough of Somerville covers 2.4 square miles, is the county seat of Somerset County, and has a residential population of about 12,400. Van Derveer Elementary School has 886 students attending grades K–5.
The school has a very effective and highly used Walking School Bus system that was established two years ago after budget constraints led to the elimination of the school’s courtesy busing program. School administration needed to find a solution enabling children to walk to school safely. Assistance in developing a Walking School Bus program was obtained from RideWise of Somerset County, an affiliate of the Somerset County Business Partnership that promotes alternative modes of transportation. RideWise assessed the needs of Van Derveer students by identifying problem areas, mapping routes, and reaching out to parents to identify clusters of students in a part of town interested in walking.
Five safe routes were developed for students and “route guides” were identified to travel to the elementary school. The routes range from 33 minutes to 75 minutes of walking. Each has a main route as well as a few off-shoot connections for children who do not live on the main path.
A highlight of the Van Derveer program is “Walk to School Wednesdays,” geared to encourage the entire student body to walk. Turnout for the weekly event averages 300 students plus the principal, who walks one of the routes. The school keeps a weekly log of who participates on Wednesdays in order to track trends. RideWise explained that it uses rolls of raffle tickets to keep track of participant numbers — “Each week one ticket from Reel 1 was given out to students arriving by walking. Ticket Reel 2 was used for a raffle. A log book was kept for start and end numbers each week. Then a prize was raffled off to a student [who walked] that week.”
Based on this experience RideWise has expanded Walk to School Day to three other schools: an intermediate school in Manville and an elementary and middle school in Bernardsville. RideWise sees its role as helping a school to develop a walking program, with the aim of equipping the school to eventually take over the program’s administration.
In its experience with school-based walking programs, RideWise has found that the support of school principals is crucial for success and that working with the superintendent was helpful. RideWise emphasized that anyone interested in working with a school to start a walking program should initiate contact with the principal and/or superintendent by May or June for a program to be launched in September.
RideWise also determined that it is useful to convince parents that they own the program so parents should not fear being told what to do regarding their children. The program was tailored to the needs of each area rather than having one prototype. “Ownership” of the program ideally will pass from RideWise to the school and eventually, to the parents or the Parent Teacher Association (PTA.) Realistically, however, RideWise does not know if parent ownership can survive on its own because the program requires a great deal of time and commitment and there is regular turnover of families as children grow out of the program.
Among the obstacles RideWise faced was the tendency of people to significantly underestimate the amount of time needed, particularly with respect to the educational component. RideWise usually tracks progress through the use of surveys, but it has proven to be a challenge to get students to return them. Tracking progress through teacher and principal feedback, on the other hand, has been helpful and very positive.
RideWise conducted a thorough assessment of the specific needs of each area and makes a good case for the program by highlighting benefits for the school and other stakeholders in the community, as well as potential grant funders.
Programs at all the schools are publicized vigorously through flyers distributed to children and in the community. Leading up to each Walk to School Day, posters were put up around the town marking the routes. Lists of the routes were also published in the local newspapers. Information mailings sent out by schools at the beginning of the year included flyers for the program. RideWise provides the promotional materials. The school staff functions as the direct contact with parents, mailing the materials and speaking with people interested
in participating.
RideWise provides its services through support from NJDOT grants. In addition, local businesses donate funds and prizes while school staff supply their time.
