By Jimmy Taitano Camacho

Before the sun spilled over the top of Mount Santa Rosa, we walked from home to the bus stop, which was a telephone pole that had fallen after Typhoon Omar in 1992. When it rained, Maria left her home and everyday duties to hold what seemed then to be the largest umbrella ever, sheltering us from the rains of the fanuchånan (rainy season).

When vehicles refused to abide by the speed limit and drove too fast, she would wait for them. With one palm extended to signal drivers to halt and the other on her hip, she would tell our neighbors: “You better slow down.” As a manåmko’ (elder), she was highly regarded and her commands respected.

She was often the shelter we required before entering the bus to Upi Elementary and F.B.L.G. Middle School. And she was critical to creating a safer route to school for many of the village kids.

How do we extend this ethic of care to the more than 30,000 students who travel to and from their homes to school? How do we create a community for our children to navigate the village streets safely for school, play, and work?

There are many strategies to improve roadway public safety through education, regulation, and enforcement. Here are three low-cost approaches faculty of the University of Guam Land Grant Extension Service are exploring through research and partnerships.

Village School Zones

Establishing “School Zones” similar to “Drug-Free Zones” (17 GCA, CH. 48) could guide the efforts of the public safety institutions to implement strategies specifically around schools and bus stops. Re-posting street signs following storms, posting signage for reduced speed limits around areas with high volumes of children, and enforcing speed limits are proven, low-cost strategies to improve pedestrian safety. Increasing lighting (e.g., streetlights, bus stop beacons, and reflectors) and limiting parking near pedestrian crossings and bus stops further improve visibility and the awareness of school zones.

Another effective strategy is yellow. Arizona, for example, establishes yellow specifically for striping school zones and crosswalks. Yellow is more easily visible than white and specifically raises awareness of the presence of school children. 

Traffic Calming Devices

Traffic calming devices refer to a set of coordinated design approaches to reduce the speed of vehicles. These approaches may be physical (e.g., street cones) and visual (e.g., street diets). Both measures can be beneficial for children.

A “street diet” is the common term for when metropolitan areas reduce the width of lanes from 12-foot wide to 10-foot wide and reallocate this space toward sidewalks and bike lanes. Lane narrowing can reduce vehicle speeds and shorten the distance to cross streets. Case studies by the U.S. Department of Transportation have proven that road diets improve safety and “increase the quality of life for all road users.”

Traffic calming treatments used near schools in a New York City case study effectively reduced crashes by 18% in the first year of implementation. The treatments included lane right-sizing, curb extensions, pedestrian islands, and a hardened center line, which tightens up and slows left turns.

Other traffic calming devices may be visual. Planting trees and other ornamental plants along roadway corridors creates the perception of more narrow roads and drivers are documented to reduce speeds in such areas.  

Crossing Guard Program

Crossing guards remind drivers of the presence of school children and encourage safer driving behaviors. Creating a Crossing Guard Program may prove to be an effective program to increase the number of adults to assist in improving public safety. Crossing guards help children safely cross the street to and from school daily. They may also supplement enforcement by observing and reporting incidents that pose safety hazards to children. National organizations, Florida, and North Carolina have already established standards for training paid and volunteer crossing guards.

Conclusion

How do we create safer routes to school? My grandmother didn't possess a title, a budget, or a badge — but we required her presence, vigilance, and an umbrella big enough for all of us. Established School Zones, traffic calming devices, and Crossing Guard programs may be viable initiatives to create safer routes to school.

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Jimmy Taitano Camacho, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Community Development at the University of Guam Land Grant Extension Service. He holds a doctorate in land policy and Indigenous methodologies and a Master of Science degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To explore these initiatives further, please contact him at camachoj16700@triton.uog.edu.