Pub. 3 2013-2014 Issue 2

26 C harter Schools are a growing source of education throughout the United States. They allow an educational alternative to the local district public school system and provide options for parents to help guide their child’s education in a particular direction. The development of Charter Schools has also developed unique traffic patterns and transportation concerns. The nature of all schools is that there will be a 20-30 minute peak traffic period in the morning and afternoon. The mornings typically have higher trips than the afternoon but the afternoon is generally more of a concern because the arrival and storage of vehicles creates queuing prob- lems. If not planned for properly, these long queues will extend off the school property and to the nearby proper- ties or roadways. Many City Transportation Engineers are concerned that not enough thought is going into the site circulation and preparation for new schools and has become a source of friction between some City’s, residents and incoming schools. In addition, poor circulation or inefficient queuing leads to parents and students partici- pating in behaviors that are less safe, such as picking up across the street or down the block. Charter Schools are unique in that some are developed in industrial or non-residential areas of a City. Therefore, the percentage of students that walk or bike to the school is very low. Since there is often no bussing, the majority of students are transported by private car. These schools often generate higher trip rates per students than typical public schools. Transportation Engineers use the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual which has determined trip rates for various land uses from empirical measurements over the years. Based on historic measurements, an average trip rate per student has been determined for the public schools and private schools. Charter schools are a new entity and not yet included in the ITE Manual. Recent counts at a number of Utah Char- ter Schools provide an average rate for these types of facili- ties. Table 1 indicates that district public schools have a lower trip rate per students than Private Schools and the Charter School information collected to date, indicate that these Charter Schools are generating rates similar to Private schools, which is up to twice as much traffic as the district public schools generate. Table 1: Trip Generation Rates Signage and Striping violations are common in school zones Understanding Traffic at Charter Schools Type of Facility ITE Land Use Code AM Trip Rate /student PM Trip Rate /student Daily Trip Rate / student Elementary School 520 0.45 0.28 1.29 Middle School 522 0.54 0.30 1.62 High School 530 0.43 0.29 1.71 Private School (K-12) 536 0.81 0.58 2.48 Private School (K-9) 534 0.9 0.6 Charter School Count 0.79 0.67 BY JOE PERRIN