[Talk-us] Safe Routes to School Mapping Toolkit concept

[Nathan Edgars II]

This will require objective criteria for grading a route. Does SRTS 
ignore complications, such as badly-designed bike lanes and especially 
sidepaths decreasing safety, and kids choosing the sidewalk over even 
well-designed bike lanes? How is safety of crossing a street determined? 
How about safety of walking in the street?

One thing that might be useful in OSM would be marking crosswalks (or 
intersections?) where a crossing guard operates during school commuting 
hours.


As a suburban example for discussion, I volunteer the local elementary 
school: 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=28.41182&lon=-81.49269&zoom=17&layers=M
Buena Vista Woods Boulevard has bike lanes, but kids generally ride on 
the sidewalk. There is a crossing guard at the west end of BVW, helping 
kids cross Apopka Vineland Road into the gated community. The path to 
the east (through the park) is open during school hours, and allows kids 
from the two subdivisions to the northeast to reach the school (I don't 
know if anyone from Sand Lake Point, the northern one of the two, does, 
but I often see kids and parents riding on the sidewalks of Sand Lake 
Cove and onto the path).