Davis Bicycles! Council Candidate Questions

In the discussion about closing Emerson Jr. High, some parents felt that it was too far for current Emerson students from the west side to bike all the way to Holmes. Others suggested that obstacles to biking this distance could be overcome. What are your thoughts on this? Would you favor instituting a parking charge for high school students in the Vets-DHS parking lot to promote increased cycling?

I am a West Davis resident and I was not in favor of closing Emerson Jr. High school because that would leave West Davis without a school for the residents of West Davis. Many parents have shared with me that they would not be so hesitant to their children biking to school if the bike lanes were more visible, accessible, and safe. As councilmember I would work with parents and the school district to make this happen.

I would not favor instituting a parking charge for high school students because it is a public school -- although I really do not believe this is in the jurisdiction of the city anyway.

As a councilmember, what I would favor instead, is a longer term city-district relationship that promotes bicycle riding and safety from an early age. As councilmember I would encourage the city to partner with the Davis School Board to implement Bicycle Education, Safety and Awareness for children of all ages. The formation of riding groups and turning biking into a social activity are ways in which to encourage biking to school. I would also look towards a parental workshop that discourages driving students to school, encourages biking from an early age as a way to increase exercise and to cut down on traffic problems.

Additionally, I would work with the school district to encourage my suggested BIKE Davis Education Program . "BIKE" stands for ( Biking Involving Kids helps the Environment), and it's a program that could help kids understand how biking to school and to other events not only provides good exercise, but helps the environment as well.

I walked and biked to school as a kid, a teenager, and a college student and would like to see an increase in bicycle usage once again. As a councilmember I will work to make this happen.

As councilmember I would also work to have additional bike loops added, which would encourage cycling for individuals and families with kids by having various loops such as the Green Loop (5 miles) and the Red Loop (3 miles) and the Blue Loop (1 mile) added to the existing, approximate 12 mile Davis Bike Loop.

Ideally, closure of Emerson would not be an issue we would choose to have to address. The distance between far west Davis and Holmes Junior High is greater than we would choose to have students be forced to travel -- we would all choose to have schools located near the homes of students.

The distance, however, is not the only issue. In addition to distance there are two questions that draw my attention 1) voluntary choices vs. mandates; and 2) safe routes.

For many years, many Davis students and their families have voluntarily chosen to bike across town to avail themselves of academic offerings. Some students have biked from the Emerson enrollment area to Davis High School for math, music and foreign language classes. At one point, students from the Emerson area participated in orchestra programs at Holmes. Students attending Cesar Chavez and the earlier locations of the Spanish Immersion program frequently bike from far east Davis and far west Davis to Anderson Road. I know that in some of these instances, parents and students would bike together as a group in a sort of "bike pool". Clearly, the distance is not too great to bike -- if the will is there and a choice is made. The challenge would come if hundreds of people were compelled to make this commute.

While safe routes exist to cross town, there are trouble spots that need to be addressed if we are compelled to send hundreds of students across town. Moreover, we would need to consider that flow from west Davis to Holmes would involve merging with existing flows of students en route to Patwin, Willett, Chavez, North Davis Elementary and the High School. If need be, I am confident we could work these issues out, but it would not be a choice we want to make.

I support consideration of some pay for parking system at the high school as a way of increasing awareness of the alternatives to the use of the automobile and providing some incentive for students to not drive. Any such consideration would need to include a careful approach that recognizes that some students really do live a great distance away, some students travel directly from school to work or other activities, and parking fees may present an economic hardship for some students' families. Furthermore, a related review should be conducted of additional prospects for increased bus use.

I believe in neighborhood schools and think that Emerson Jr. should remain open. However, I believe that we can institute bike pools (similar to car pools) wherein one parent leads a large group of students to their school and back. This will ensure that safety and a minimal carbon footprint are the guiding forces in school transportation.

Answer to second part: YES

In my Three Point Plan to Bring the Bike Back (see sydneyvergis.com), I suggest increased elementary school outreach on Bike safety and road sharing to help facilitate biking awareness; implementing monthly "Family Bicycle to School Days;" and encouraging safer biking to school through online bike-pool coordination via the City of Davis website.