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Entries tagged: Savings Calculator

In 2007-2008, districts across the United States spent a staggering $21.5 billion busing students from their neighborhoods to the classroom. At an average of $854 per student, that accounted for more than 4 percent of the entire cost of the K-12 education system.

By helping to create the conditions that get more kids to bike and walk to school instead, the Safe Routes to School movement is reducing that massive price tag. And the advocates at the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation have created a new tool that aims to puts a dollar value on those notable savings.

Of course, busing trumps private automobiles by a long shot, saving 347 million vehicle miles traveled each day. And busing certainly makes sense for students traveling longer distances. “We know that school bus transportation is cheaper, better for the environment, and often better for kids, than being driven in private automobiles,” the Missouri advocates point out. But they also know that: “Walking and bicycling, when feasible and safe, is cheaper, healthier, and generally better for most kids than either of the other options.”

So the federation did some number crunching. They found that a typical student who bicycles or walks to school receives the following amount of savings and benefits:

• Bicycling: $2,749 per year ($1,129 in cost savings and health benefits; $1,620 in enjoyment benefit)
  
• Walking: $1,856 per year ($596 in cost savings and health benefits; $1,260 in enjoyment benefit)

Want to calculate the benefits in your community? Download the federation’s calculator in the Alliance Resource Library. Click here to read more about the data sources.