Learning to See. A White Paper

Learning to See. The Santa Monica School District and the Bicycles. A White Paper.

This white paper tries to co-motivate the school district to become more engaged in active and healthy modes of getting to school. It reminds the district that the roads in Santa Monica have become much more bike-friendly in the past five years, and that the school district has not been moving much on cars, buses and bikes. Are they missing the bike train? I hope not.

Sometimes a little unguarded gesture tells you more than a thousand words. I found this architectural view from 2008 quite interesting. It is proudly displayed on the second floor of the district headquarters. It shows a "schematic design" of the High School parking lot.

"Let them drive Porsches", about as distorted as "Let them eat cake" (Qu'ils mangent de la Brioche) attributed to Marie Antoinette

Look a bit closer. Striking indeed, the sheer number of Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris (or worse) that the architect has parked there. Apparently there is nobody in the district building or on the Board of Education who would object against this distortion of what getting to school in our little town of Santa Monica means. This design of a parking lot is steeped in poisonous culture of Fast and Furious. It has been framed and displayed. This makes it a revealing testimony to the unconscious culture of transportation at the school district. "Let them drive Porsches" is irresponsible, naive, pathetic and revealing at the same time.

From the distorted fantasy of fast cars, a fantasy which is so last century, to the reality of getting to work in the school district. This bicycle is happily parked in the lobby of the district headquarters. It tells the story of a brave employee who is doing him/herself and all of us a great favor by choosing the better way to arrive at work. Perhaps a proper bike rack could be placed in the lobby? This would invite more employees to park their bike there. And if parking space is limited (it always is), and if a proper bike parking structure would reduce the number of spaces available for cars, is there enough Santa Monica Bike Spirit in the school district to do the right thing?

Five Years After: Revisiting the Bicycle Resolution of 2009

It is now 5 years that the Santa Monica School District adopted a far-reaching bicycle resolution. A good reason to revisit the commitments, and to see what has been achieved.

What has been achieved? Well, not too much.I think we were probably a little naive and too optimistic, thinking that the district would in due course discover this text and do the right thing. But paper is patient. We need readers who can remind the district that these good intentions are still only intentions. Some of the board members have probably never heard about this Resolution, so we better link to it in the form in which it was published in the minutes of the meeting on April 2nd, 2009.

Crossroads School: The First Bicycle Friendly School in Santa Monica

Crossroads School in Santa Monica is an independent school (K-12) with more than 1000 students. Last month they received word that they qualified as a Bicycle Friendly Business.

This distinction is offered by the League of American Bicyclists to places of employment which go the extra mile to encourage employees to ride to work. Participants undergo a complex evaluation process and receive guidance how to improve services to those who use a bicycle to come to work.

Andrew Gaines, who works as facilities manager at Crossroads, says the school has about 50 employees who ride to school, and many of the students do too. Employees do receive incentives (gift cards, monetary rewards) when they come to school without a car. Gaines said that the fact that teachers and staff are cycling is itself an important lesson for the children who understand that the bicycle is a perfectly acceptable mode of transportation around town, especially in Santa Monica. He hopes that his school can become an example for other schools in Santa Monica.

Congratulations, Crossroads! Keep up the good work!