Lack of Transportation = Lack of Education
I believe that education is a very important thing that everyone should be able to have access to. Unfortunately, there are some that are unable to obtain an education due to lack of opportunities. These barriers may include low economic statuses, living in urban areas, and lack of parental guidance. One barrier that I wanted to bring awareness to was families having no access to any forms transportation to take their children to school. Households that do not have access to their own or public transportation are those that cannot acquire enough funds to pay for admission or they live too far of a distance from bus stops and safety may become an issue.This may cause students to not be able to travel to important places that are crucial to their daily lives; especially school. Lack of transportation can cause students to either be tardy or have numerous absences . This would result in their grades falling. According to an article, “The Rural Perspective on the Concept of Educational Adequacy” written by Malhoit, Gregory C.(2005), Malhoit explained that due to these barriers, some students are not able to have an opportunity to fully gain an education. He also states that if we begin to provide programs for families that do not have their own transportation, we can then begin to improve their student’s futures.
Distance from schools can also be a factor that would prevent students to be able to make it to school. In the article, “How Far is Too Far For Students To Walk To School”, by Chris Horn (2014), Horn explains that it would be most logical for the educational system to provide free transportation for those that live outside of the district but they are indeed students of the institution. Although Horn’s declaration would benefit students, he also recognized that the Virginia beach high school disagreed. Officials from the school created a policy that it is solely the student’s and their guardian’s responsibility to get them the school. If they happen to live too far, then they may have to resort to homeschooling; even though this is the only high school that is in range.
Families that reside in areas that are not safe for children or teens to walk alone to far away bus stops are more at risk to be confronted by danger. In the article,”Environmental Barriers to Activity”, by the Harvard T.H. of Public Health (2012), the author explained that because there are a high crime and violence rates in some urban areas, it is best to not take chances to use the public transportation alone. Although not using the public transportation would lower the risk of students to be in danger, this will then take away another opportunity for the student to get to school.
Being identified as someone who has a low economic status, it may be hard to provide necessities for your household. For those that do not have their own transportation can have a hard time paying to utilize the public transits due to the high cost. According to the Bay Area VTA and Transit website, it costs $2 dollars per trip, a day pass cost $6 dollars, and a monthly pass would cost $70 dollars. (http://www.vta.org/getting-around/fares) For the county of Santa Clara, the average family of four that was considered to be low income would earn $30,00 dollars a year (http://www.hcd.ca.gov/housing-policy-development/housing-resource-center/reports/state/inc2k15.pdf) . If they would have to purchase a monthly pass for each person to use the bus, they would spend $280 dollars a month. This high amount would be combined with buying food, clothes, paying for bills, and rent. I believe that creating a discounted program for low-income bus users would not only save them money but as well ensure that students will have cheaper transportation.
You may be wondering, “how can we fix the transportation equity problem for students to get to school?”One way of creating more opportunity for students to have transportation would be to have programs provided by the educational institutions.These programs may include organizing carpool systems with families that have access to cars, allowing school buses to go a further distance to pick up students, and lastly giving assistance for students to pay for bus fare. With these simple solutions, we can improve student’s attendance and ensure that everyone will have a chance attend school every day.
