safe walking and biking education programs. Addressing some of these common barriers will help parents believe that it is safe for their children to walk or bike and help convince them that they don’t have to drive their children to school.

 

The benefits of making pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements a top priority are enormous. In the short term, money that was spent on busing can be used for teachers, supplies and education programs. In the long term, money spent getting children to walk and bike will cut future health-care costs. The Somerville program is a useful example of how a community can work together to meet the needs of children who are no longer bused to school while addressing the safety concerns of parents.

 

Sources:

“Gas Prices Hitting New Jersey School System” http://www.northjersey.com/news/
Gas_crisis_hitting_North_Jersey_school_
bus_system.html

 

“Finding the Road: Selected Issues in New Jersey Pupil Transportation” / Pupil_transportation.pdf and DOE Office of Student Transportation FAQ http://www.nj.gov/education/finance/
transportation/faq.htm

 

“Fundamentals of School Busing”…
http://gianfrancopietrafesa.com/
Documents/Fundamentals%20of%20
School%20Busing.pdf

The Scoop on Busing and School Budgets
A state law that became effective during the 2005-2006 school year severely limits the ability of school districts to pay for courtesy busing. The statute imposes a spending growth limitation adjustment (SGLA) on increases on all non-mandated transportation costs. The statute further revised the SGLA for non-mandated transportation from the full cost of the increase over the previous school year to an increase of 2.5 percent or the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is greater. The CPI for the 2006-2007 school year was 4 percent.

 

A school district may seek a waiver from the state Board of Education to increase the SGLA by more than the allowed amount in extraordinary situations, such as the presence of hazardous conditions along the school route.