Comment PEEK INTO THE PAST
Editorial Bring back the buses
T
he yellow school bus, once an integral part of the school community, has all but gone the way of the dinosaur, at least in our local school districts. At least once before, we floated the idea of bringing back busing for the bulk of students in Los Altos and Mountain View. It has not been a prominent part of school transportation in the area since the 1970s, when districts ended the service to save money. Obviously, with our elementary school district and, to a lesser degree, the high school district facing budget deficits, asking them to pay full cost for buses is probably out of the question. But the Menlo Park Elementary School District may be on to something. The district has resurrected busing for students who have difficult or no access to SamTrans bus routes. While bicycling, walking and carpooling are strongly encouraged, the busing option further reduces the number of cars traveling to the district’s schools. To participate in the bus program, parents pay a yearly fee, allegedly in the $200 range, which is less than the amount spent on gas for daily school trips, to say nothing of the time that each parent wastes driving children to and from school. But gas savings is at the bottom of the list of reasons why resurrecting school buses is a good idea. For safety reasons and preserving the environment, busing makes so much more sense. Drop-off and pickup times at our schools are sources of anxiety for our neighborhoods. The lines of cars, coupled with children walking, biking and, in some cases, weaving around cars, contribute to serious accident risks. Even with our diligent crossing guards, children’s safety is compromised. This is especially true when harried parents are rushing to get their students to school on time. Bus drivers adhere to much higher driver safety standards. Agencies such as the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Transportation attest that buses are the safest form of transportation for getting children to and from school. Then there’s the environmental advantage: The nation’s schoolbus transportation system carries more than half of the country’s children to school each day, according to the American School Bus Council, averting an estimated 17.3 million cars from traveling the roads surrounding schools each morning. That’s a reduction of 2.3 billion gallons of fuel annually. We don’t have specific estimates for Los Altos, but the reduction in traffic and gas is obvious. In addition, the buses themselves are environmentally friendlier than they used to be, using alternative fuels that include cleaner diesel, natural gas, liquid propane injection and electric hybrid. We suggest our elementary and high school districts form committees to look into the potential of establishing a busing program that parents could support. Walking and cycling are preferred choices for getting to school, but busing seems like a logical solution to the vehicular traffic problem.
COURTESY OF LISA ROBINSON/LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM
Hills Barn, above, was located near the intersection of Salamontes Way and Estacada Drive in Los Altos Hills. Reuben Wilmarth Hills purchased the land, which had been the Clayton Fruit Ranch, in the early 1910s. In 1915, it was reported that he was “making extensive improvements about the place.” Reuben and his brother, Austin Herbert Hills, founded Hills Brothers Coffee of San Francisco.
Letters to the Editor Los Altos needs green restaurants
Which type restaurant would I like downtown? Vegetarian! It’s almost impossible to eat in Los Altos as a vegan. It would be fantastic to have a truly great vegetarian restaurant here. People say they care about the environment – and we all know more fruits and veggies help us stay healthy. But none of the restaurants focus on plants. Many have told me they really can’t serve a vegan meal. Approximately 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, can be traced to livestock production, according to a United Nations report released in 2006. That’s more than are released from all the world’s vehicles and airplanes combined,
14 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Animal agriculture is at the root of a host of other environmental problems, including deforestation, desertification and water scarcity. For example, the destruction of rain forests, often driven by demand for grazing land for cattle or soy for animal feed, is a serious threat to tropical forests. Davy Davidson Los Altos Hills
Downtown turnaround depends on changes I am a resident of downtown Los Altos and love living here. In today’s changing market realities, our downtown needs not only additional retail, but also office and residential to survive. If we don’t
make some changes, our retail core will continue declining. An additional concern is that less business activity in the downtown results in fewer tax funds for our schools. It has been clear for some time that the present market has not offered sufficient prospects for new businesses or even existing ones. Additional density with mixed uses such as retail, office and residential could not only be very charming, but could increase sales and help keep our retail businesses. I am hopeful that the Los Altos City Council will provide the leadership necessary to facilitate the future success of our downtown. Andrea Eaton Los Altos See LETTERS, Page 9
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