The Waka Waewae or Walking School Bus is an excellent school initiative that Westmere, Richmond Rd and Grey Lynn school are all involved with.When I was a kid everybody walked to school, now so many children are dropped off. As more people walk to school the traffic flows around school gates is cut down making it safer for everybody.Apparently in NZ we have the ludicrous Catch-22 situation where more than half of primary school children are regularly driven to school because parents fear heavy traffic which hen makes it unsafe for them to walk or cycle to school.
According to Auckland City Council, forty per cent of Auckland’s rush hour traffic is school-related, as witnessed by the noticeable reduction in congestion over the school holidays.
Our bus has an adult driver and an adult conductor at the rear of the bus and we pick up our “passengers” along the way. It has been a great way for our family to meet more kids who live very near us.
Westmere School has 48 per cent of its pupils – 210 children – registered for four “waka waewae” (walking buses) converging on the school.
Sometimes our passengers go very slowly, Friday afternoon the dawdle along, run down the big hill, have a wrestle with their mate, but we get to the local dairy eventually.
Living in Westmere, Grey Lynn
A glimpse of life in Westmere and Grey Lynn
