"Schoolpool" aims to ease traffic jams

Local News, by Gus Thomson, Journal Staff WriterIt?s meant to ease traffic and cut air pollution, but school officials are hoping a new carpool program in Placer County will also ease the daily before- and after-school parking lot crunch.The Placer County Transportation Planning Agency?s Schoolpool program has already been embraced by the Auburn Union School District and will soon spread to the Loomis Union Elementary School District. The carpool program links parents with students attending the same school.After a frenetic round of after-school pickups that saw cars slowly snake in and out of the parking lot, Skyridge Principal Harriett Kroot wondered aloud whether a shuttle bus ? or even, jokingly, a helicopter ? might be a more effective means to get many of the south Auburn school?s 651 students in and out.With one entrance and exit from the school parking lot, Kroot described the situation before and after classes as ?miserable.? When crossing guards stop vehicles on nearby Perkins Way, traffic piles up even more, she said.?If people would car pool more, it would make all the difference in the world,? Kroot said. ?If we could eliminate even a tenth of the traffic it would help substantially.?Solvi Sabol, alternative transportation coordinator, said the program has served as matchmaker for about three dozen parents at Skyridge and Auburn Elementary schools.?Once you?re on the list, other parents can call to see where you?re located and see if it?s a good match,? Sabol said.Sabol said she suggests setting up a meeting, where prospective carpool partner families can talk about details like insurance, radio stations, and ensuring that vehicles are maintained.?From there it?s out of my hands,? Sabol said.Anne Noder is one of the parental chauffeurs in a pool of three families and four children at Skyridge.?It just seems to be mutually beneficial for all the families involved in terms of times and schedules,? Noder said. ?I also feel strongly about trying to get as many cars off the road and sparing the air. It?s shocking before and after school.?Gigg Powers, Loomis Union district superintendent, said Thursday that the district will soon be sending home pamphlets on the Schoolpool program with its 1,950 students.For a variety of reasons, including safety factors, convenience for parents, and lack of sidewalks, children aren?t walking or riding their bikes to school the way they once did, Powers said. None of the district?s four schools have pickup areas designed to handle the vehicle flows they are now experiencing, he said.Busing is another option that many parents opt to forego, Powers said.?If a child has to get up a half-hour early to catch a bus, a parent might say that it would be better for the student to sleep in or that they could have breakfast together,? he said. ?So they drive them themselves.?The Schoolpool program is also promoting bus use, if carpooling isn?t an option. It lists the area?s school and non-school transportation services.Auburn Union assistant superintendent George Landon, who has worked closely with the agency in establishing the program, said Schoolpool also should improve student safety by decreasing traffic congestion.?For those not able to use the school bus service, this is a great alternative,? Landon said.The Journal?s Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.