?Thanks Jen, Was the City's Safe Routes to School Coordinator at the meeting? With kind regards, Ray Mueller (please excuse odd punctuation. my laptop does not always work well with the City's email system.) ________________________________ From: Jen Wolosin Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 12:00 PM To: _CCIN Cc: Yee, Nicholas G; Cadieux, Andre-Anne; Katie Behroozi; Adina Levin; Theresa Vallez-Kelly; Nicholas Muys; Ellen Kraska; Erik Burmeister; Wilfin Morales; Curran, Nell; Chen, Kevin; Vanessa Castro; Cindy Chin; Julia Malmo-Laycock Subject: Need a Plan for Fall 2020 - Safe Routes to School Dear City Council Members, I just attended Menlo Park's Safe Routes to School Task Force meeting. At this meeting we learned that in the Fall: * Sam Trans will only be able to accomodate a fraction of the students it usually transports to M-A on Bus 296 (from East Palo Alto) or on its other buses around town, including those going to Hillview. * Pre COVID-19, Las Lomitas typically bused 400 kids per day. In Fall 2020, they will have the capacity to bus 88. They will prioritize Tinsley Transfer Program students. * Pre COVID-19, MPCSD typically bused 100 kids from the Tinsley Transfer Program and 150 other kids on their "neighborhood" bus. The "neighborhood" bus is not expected to run. * A representative from Ravenswood was not on the call, but one can assume that there will also be much less bus capacity, which is especially problematic given that Willow Oaks families will now have to get to Belle Haven Elementary due to the recent school closure. Given that hundreds of kids who usually take the bus will not be able to, a plan must be developed as soon as possible to mitigate this transportation challenge. This is an equity issue. Not every family has the ability to drive their child to school. The consensus on the call was that most families that can no longer bus will have their kids bike and walk to school. What is the City of Menlo Park's plan to make this possible? I urge you to: Direct the city's Safe Routes to School Coordinator to work with the Public Works department to: * Map out the bus routes that will be impacted; * Define alternative bicycle and pedestrian routes to school (the city's Complete Streets Commission may be able to help with this); and * Implement quick and/or temporary infrastructure improvements as necessary to make these routes safe before the start of school. Please let Parents for Safe Routes know how we can be of assistance. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Jen -- Jen Wolosin Parents for Safe Routes www.parents4saferoutes.org http://www.parents4saferoutes.org > jen_at_(domainremoved)415.710.5838 [ https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B5BGvPHdC67QVENja3JKVVJqZHc&export=download ] Received on Wed Jun 17 2020 - 13:47:33 PDT
