transportation 2013-14 annual in-service training

Transportation2013-14 Annual

In-Service Training


In-Service Training


In-Service Training


In-Service Training

Hazardous Walking Conditions

Rob Doss


In-Service Training


In-Service Training

Hazardous Walking Conditions…

• elementary school students through grade 6• walkways need not be paved to be considered

suitable for elementary school students• parameters probably not what we think they

are (or should be)


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Sec. 1006.23(4)(a)2.b, F.S.


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Sec. 1006.23(4)(b)1, F.S.


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Sec. 1006.23, F.S.


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Sec. 1006.23(4)(b)2, F.S.


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Those walking conditions are all safe for elementary school students,

according to Section 1006.23, Florida Statutes.


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In-Service Training

Current Section 1006.23, FSHazardous Walking Conditions –

Walkways Parallel to the Road

It is hazardous if there is not an area for students to walk that is 4’ wide (paved or unpaved) UNLESS:• the road is in a residential area with little or no

transient traffic; or• the traffic volume is less than 180 vehicles per

hour, per direction; or• the road is in a residential area with a speed

limit of less than 35 miles per hour.


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In-Service Training

Current Section 1006.23, FSHazardous Walking Conditions –Walkways Parallel to the Road

In other words…

…a 4’ area for elementary students to walk on is not required if the traffic volume in either lane is less than 180 vehicles per hour (1 vehicle every 20 seconds).


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It is hazardous when there is not an area for students to walk that is 7’ wide (paved or unpaved) if:• the posted speed limit is 55 mph or more; and• the walkway is uncurbed.


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Walkways Perpendicular to the Road

It is hazardous if a student must cross a road where:• the crossing site is uncontrolled and has a

traffic volume in each direction of at least 360 vehicles per hour (1 every 10 seconds in each direction), or

• the crossing site is controlled and has a total traffic volume of at least 4,000 vehicles per hour.

I-10 between Pine Forest Road & Highway 29 at 7:30 AM on a weekday:

3,820 vehicles per hour


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It’s a concern to Florida school districts because…

…the criteria that defines hazardous walking conditions drives the state’s allocation of funds to school districts for transportation they provide through hazardous walk zones, and…


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When statutes fail to reasonably establish hazardous walking condition thresholds, one (or all) of three things happens:

1. parents are left to transport their children to school when they can;2. students are forced to walk through those hazardous conditions anyway; or3. school districts decide to establish their own criteria and transport the students on school buses as “courtesy riders.”

“Courtesy riders” are now known as “ineligible riders” (as in ineligible for state funding).

3. school districts decide to establish their own criteria and transport the students on school buses as “courtesy riders.”


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In-Service Training

Already…

…Florida school districts transport more than 85,000 ineligible students to and from school.

More than half of all Florida school districts receive no funding for hazardous walk zone

transportation.


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Instead of…

…improving infrastructure, we cloak deficiencies in safe walking programs for students as if the only thing keeping students from walking safely to school is a little training.


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It is striking…

…that at a time when there is such emphasis on student wellness, fitness, and getting children interested in walking to school, hazards to pedestrians appear to be on the rise.


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A 2014 USDOT press release…

…revealed that there has been a sustained increase in pedestrian and bicycle injuries and deaths since 2009 despite a decline in motor vehicle crash fatalities over the same period.


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The irony?

The state’s woeful hazardous walking criteria language is found in the education code where we should expect to find a voice of advocacy for safety, security, and the prescription for learning and achievement.


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Our proposal…

Features…

• Students aren’t expected to cross roadways between intersections in order to find a safe walkway parallel to the road…

• Traffic volume measurement is focused to 15-minute windows, not diluted over the course of 1-hour windows…

• Hazards are identified and evaluated by their relevance and proximity…

• Parameters are established with the “reasonable observer” in mind…

Our ProposalHazardous Walking Conditions –


Students shall not be required to cross a roadway between intersections in order to avoid a hazardous walkway parallel to the road.



A walkway parallel to the road is hazardous:

• if it is less than 4’ wide, the speed limit is 30 mph or greater, and vehicles pass at a rate of 90 vehicles or more during any 15-minute period in the lane adjacent to the walkway; or



A walkway parallel to the road is hazardous:

• if it is adjacent to a road that has a speed limit of 50 mph or more and is less than 7 feet from the road with no curb separating pedestrians from traffic; or

• if it has no curb and crosses a bridge structure; or

• if it intersects an active railroad crossing.



A walkway perpendicular to the road is hazardous:

• if the crossing site is controlled and includes a slip lane or a permissible right turn on red; or

• if the crossing site is controlled and the total traffic volume is 450 vehicles or more during any 15-minute period while students are walking to or from school (30 vehicles per minute); or



A walkway perpendicular to the road is hazardous:

• if the crossing site is uncontrolled and the total traffic volume is 225 vehicles or more during any 15-minute period while students are walking to or from school (12 vehicles per minute).


In-Service Training


In-Service Training

When statutes fail to reasonably establish hazardous walking condition thresholds, one (or all) of three things happens:

1. parents are left to transport their children to school when they can;2. students are forced to walk through those hazardous conditions anyway; or3. school districts decide to establish their own criteria and transport the students on school buses as “ineligible riders.”

When statutes fail to reasonably establish hazardous walking condition thresholds, one thing happens in this District:

3. we establish our own criteria and transport the students on school buses anyway.

transportation 2013-14 annual in-service training

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