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Uploaded: Wednesday, June 27, 2012, 5:04 PM
TRAFFIX program expands to high schools
Bus tickets in Danville sell out rapidly
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by Jessica Lipsky
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 | Streets around Monte Vista and California high schools will be slightly less congested next fall as the TRAFFIX school bus program makes its way to the upper classes.
Operated jointly by the town of Danville, city of San Ramon, the county and school district with funding from Contra Costa County Measure J, TRAFFIX aims to reduce congestion at some of the Valley's busiest intersections caused by parents driving their children to and from school. Now serving seven middle and elementary schools, officials will begin a one-year pilot program to serve high schools for the 2012-13 school year.
After three years of service, the a technical advisory committee recommended that existing buses be re-routed to Cal and Monte Vista, easing congestion on Broadmoor Drive and Stone Valley Road. After reorganizing a San Ramon route, the committee routed one 50-student bus to each high school. There will be two stops for Monte Vista, one in Blackhawk Plaza and another across the street next to the County Connection stop; MVHS tickets sold out within six hours.
"There's only one way in and out of Monte Vista…and so the pain point for parents driving are much more extreme I think than in areas of San Ramon," said TRAFFIX Program Manager Alex Weis. "There is traffic congestion in San Ramon, but I also think there's some sort of a culture of ridership that has been established in the Danville/Alamo/Diablo area where, in San Ramon, I think there's more of a commute or carpool culture."
Only 47 to 49 students take the County Connection bus home after school and the TRAFFIX bus to Cal High is just 50 percent full, Weis said. With bus stops at Memorial Park, Central Park and the Alcosta senior center, he is sure the bus program will be full after summer registration.
"We figure that there are individuals who have ridden the bus to Pine Valley and are now going to Cal High, and they have established a culture of bus ridership, and we're hoping they continue that," Weis said. "We'll be making a concerted effort at Cal high during registration to target incoming freshman and sophomores who aren't licensed drivers…to show the value in our program in relieving congestion and taking cars off the road."
Although transportation officials at the city of San Ramon did not return calls for comment, Corinne Ferreyra, a program analyst for Danville's transportation and development services, said she has a good feeling about the Monte Vista pilot program.
"With Monte Vista attendance area being so spread out, walking, or biking, isn't necessarily an option for students who live in the Blackhawk area," she said, adding that Stone Valley Road carried 8,614 cars per day in 2010.
Monte Vista and Cal -- along with Pine Valley and Los Cerros middle schools; Country Club, Green Valley, Neil Armstrong, Vista Grande and Walt Disney elementaries -- were chosen as priority one TRAFFIX schools for nearby busy intersections. After the completion of the high school pilot program, the TRAFFIX technical advisory committee will decide whether to continue to serve and/or expand the current routes or begin serving second-priority schools, including San Ramon Valley High and Rancho Romero Elementary School.
An annual TRAFFIX pass costs $275. More information about the program can be found at http://www.ridetraffix.com http://www.ridetraffix.com.
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Posted by Tom, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 12:09 am It is more than a little disgusting that the school district that cut busing a few years ago rather than cut a few administrative jobs now has the gall to charge families extra for the privilege of busing.
It is taking a lot of restraint to keep my comments expletive free.
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Posted by Jean, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 8:03 am Thank you Tom. My feelings exactly.
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Posted by Lisa, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 9:22 am What do we NOT have to pay for in life? Lunch was once fifty cents long ago.... It's cheap, and the best thing that happened in Danville. Love Traffix and how well this program is run!
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Posted by Needs A Ride, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 9:51 am Great for the 50 MV families that were able to score a pass in the first couple hours. It's unfortunate that they will not add another bus. I sure hope County Connection continues their bus route in the afternoon, otherwise my kid doesn't have a ride home from school.
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Posted by MVHS parent, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 2:11 pm The school library is open until 5p.m. Have your student do homework there until traffic clears up. I usually whip through at 4:30p.m., no traffic problems.
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Posted by Douglas, a resident of the Blackhawk neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 3:07 pm Wouldn’t use it even if I wanted to as it reminds me too much of the last scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Also, for the families who wanted to use it, should have been a lottery like the high school parking to make it fair! I am sure there are families who got spots that are just being lazy and really don't need the bus.
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Posted by Puzzled, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 28, 2012 at 11:23 pm Hmm. The Town of Danville takes in Measure J money for traffic reduction, spends it on a bus program for the Diablo Road/Stone Valley corridor to ease the horrific traffic there, then proposes to add a new major subdivision of clustered homes on Diablo Road that will add over 1,000 car trips daily to that corridor, where the new students will all go to MVHS (or Los Cerros or Green Valley) and the dads will cruise out Diablo Road and Stone Valley Road to the freeway on their commute to work. Makes perfect sense to me. Please pass the popcorn...
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Posted by Louie, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 29, 2012 at 10:42 am Another socio-political conundrum.
School as extended caretaker scares many of us.
No one is "entitled" to a ride to school. Geeze.
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