City wants to extend program reducing car trips to schools

By Steve Enders

From May 1997 to July 1998, children headed to and from Saratoga schools were not shuttled in cars to their destinations 1,580 times. That translates to 1,580 fewer cars and trucks on the roads, which means better air quality for everyone in the Santa Clara Valley. It also provides peace of mind for parents who don't have to drive and for neighbors of the schools, who feel increasingly inundated with traffic.

The city of Saratoga is now hoping to help more residents off the roads, especially those going to and from school.

Saratoga has submitted a grant proposal to the Valley Transportation Authority on behalf of Alternative Transportation Solutions (ALTRANS), to provide for greater trip reduction in and around the city.

At a March 17 council meeting, councilmembers approved a resolution backing the grant proposal which, if approved, could secure more than $474,000 for the group.

The money, according to ALTRANS Executive Director Stephen Blaylock, will go mostly toward staff time and resources in simply getting the word out that alternative transportation exists here.

"We always get asked questions like, 'Why don't you just spend the money on buying buses?' Well, you've got to start somewhere, and public outreach is just one tooth in the cog," Blaylock said.

Last year, the program was unique to Saratoga. It was also successful in achieving its goal to keep more drivers off the roads and helping clean the local air, he said.

The $190,000 it received for its first year is set to expire in June.

By setting up carpooling networks and using the city's natural gas-powered van, it did a good job convincing parents there is a safe way to get their children to school every day, Blaylock said.

He said that most of ALTRANS' resources go into informational packets for new students at area schools, trip planning services, marketing and providing information centers on school campuses like at West Valley College.

In last year's outreach program, about 50 percent of all Saratoga Union School District parents responded to an initial survey, and ALTRANS was able to sign up more than 3,000 families in a carpool database.

This year the program will expand with the help of Cupertino and San Jose, whose school districts have schools inside the city of Saratoga. All three cities have pledged their support of the program, which will help ALTRANS achieve the big grant.

San Jose State University and the West Valley Mission Community College District have also pledged funding matches for the program. ALTRANS began as a ridesharing program at San Jose State in 1993, and has since branched out to community colleges.

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