The Santa Cruz Hub For Sustainable Transportation

SC County’s Resource Center for Cycling and Sustainable Transportation

Green Ways To School

  • The use of cars is the single largest source of global warming in Santa Cruz County.
  • Around schools, cars create frustrating traffic congestion, parking problems, and reduced air quality.
  • Dependence on car travel contributes to the rising trend towards obesity.
  • Students who travel cooped up in cars to school often arrive stressed, distracted, or not fully awake.
  • Parent drivers must make extra trips to transport their kids, while student drivers worry about parking, traffic, and expenses.
  • A national survey states that a car trip with a teen driving is the single most dangerous form of transportation.

Green Ways To School is a practical response to these problems.

Green Ways To School provides the youth of Santa Cruz with conceptual and experiential activities that encourage them to get out of cars and use active, sensible transportation.

Green Ways To School classroom presentations cover a diverse range of topics including sustainable transportation options, climate change, peak oil, personal and community health, and social equity.

The Goals of Green Ways To School:

  • Increase the number of students arriving to school car-free.
  • Educate students about the links between transportation choices, culture, health, and the environment.
  • Create a fun atmosphere around car-free transport to school through events and incentives.
  • Develop student leadership and community involvement.

For information on helping with Green Ways To School projects, contact Carolyn at greenways@peoplepowersc.org, or (831) 425-0667

Checks can be sent to: The HUB at 703 pacific Ave, Santa Cruz CA, 95060; please let us know to earmark your donation to Green Ways to School.

History

Through a generous grant from the Webster Foundation, People Power and the Hub Advocacy Fund were able to initiate a youth outreach program. In April 2007, the program hired Carolyn Martin to coordinate the efforts and work with local schools.

Successes

This fall, we began with Santa Cruz High School.

Through the generosity of the Bike Church, we gave away donated bikes for the student volunteers to fix up and ride for transportation, held a bike tune-up day, and a Bike 101 class teaching basic maintenance and safety skills. To celebrate World Car-Free Day, we held a PARK-ing Space demonstration where we built a small park in the principal’s parking space. Bike-powered smoothies and ukulele music add fun and celebration to our events.

In addition, all of the ninth-grade classes received presentations educating them about sustainable transportation, showing them the connections to their lives and community. Student responses indicate that the information and activities caused them to question our auto-centric culture, and their own future transportation choices.

As a finale to the fall semester, the students helped to organize a bicycle parade to raise awareness of the King Street Bike Boulevard Campaign. It was a huge success, drawing statewide media attention and nearly 200 participants.

Upcoming

This spring, students are sharing their experience by mentoring elementary students, partnering with other local organizations and organizing community events.

The Students are developing the Bicycle Puppet Show, and interactive experience for elementary students that will teach the concepts of sustainable transportation.

They also begin training to bike tour to Monterey!

Next year, we plan to expand the reach of the presentations and activities, expanding to 3 more schools, assisting with a local pedestrian campaign, and reaching out county-wide to youth leaders.