Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003
By Lisa Vorderbrueggen

Transportation options for California children have declined
dramatically in recent years as parents opt to drive their offspring
rather than send them off on foot or on bicycle, according to a report released Wednesday.

"Can You Give me a Ride, Mom?"(sic) details information gleaned in a new survey of children's travel patterns statewide. For the first time,
Caltrans broke out travel survey data for youngsters.

The study was released by national and Bay Area transit and
pedestrian rights advocacy groups and the Latino Issues Forum.

Auto-oriented suburbs far from schools, unsafe or unavailable
amenities for walking or biking, fast-moving cars and fears of
abduction have all contributed to the shift, the report found.

The consequences range from higher obesity rates among young people to a generation of children who only see their neighborhoods and towns from the back seat of a car.

"It seems we have forgotten about kids whether it's in the design of
our neighborhoods and streets or our investment decisions," said
James Coreless with one of the report authors, the Washington-based
Surface Transportation Policy Project. "We need to start viewing
children as an important user in our transportation system."

Key findings in the report include:

* Unlike children of earlier eras who walked or biked often, youths
under the age of 18 make three-quarters of their trips in private
vehicles, either as passengers or as drivers.

* School buses make up only 7.5 percent of trips by California
children, while public transit posted a paltry 1.5 percent.

* Children from low-income families are more likely to walk or bike
than their affluent counterparts.

* Children are more frequently victims of pedestrian-vehicle  accidents. In 2001, more than a third of all such collisions involved
children under the age of 18.

* As passengers, auto accidents are the leading cause of accidental
death among children younger than 18.

Report authors recommend policy makers fund safe walking and
bicycling routes, encourage mixed development patterns that bring
homes, schools and shops closer together, revive school bus programs
and provide free transit passes for children.

STUDY

* Title: "Can You Give Me a Ride, Mom?(sic) The Decline of Children's
Independent Mobility in California"

* Authors: Surface Transportation Policy Project, a national transit
and pedestrian advocacy group; Transportation and Land Use Coalition, an Oakland-based environmental group; and the Latino Issues Forum

* Where can I read it? Visit http://www.transact.org/ca or
<http://www.transcoalition.org>. For paper copies, call 415-956-7795.


Lisa Vorderbrueggen covers transportation and growth. Reach her at
925-945-4773 or lvorderb@cctimes.com