Posted on: Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Editorial
School traffic jam need not be a zoo

You have to give those folks at the state and city transportation departments credit: Each year they have to come up with a new way of grabbing our attention about the traffic crush that erupts at the start of every school year.

Over the summer, commuters are lulled into complacency. The lack of hordes of drivers shuttling students back and forth from school leaves the road less crowded, the traffic less hectic.

The actual numbers are not great, but even the small percentage drop in commuter traffic during the summer makes a big difference. And it works the other way too: Once school gets back in, it is bumper-to-bumper time once again.

To ease the pressure, the state and city for the past 15 years have launched a "beat the school jam" campaign aimed at avoiding gridlock. Each year, there has to be a new gimmick to get the attention of busy drivers.

This year, the theme is "It's a jungle out there" and the kickoff news conference was, appropriately enough, held at the Honolulu Zoo.

Beat the School Jam offers a variety of alternatives, from simply planning on a longer commute, leaving earlier, switching to van pools, car pools or the bus, or even commuting by foot or bike, if that is possible.

If everyone made even a small incremental change in their commuting habits, the overall impact would be significant.

The big dates to watch out for are today, Aug. 1 and Aug. 23. Plus, about 40,000 university, college and Punahou students will start school Aug. 27.

For more information, call the state's rideshare office at 587-RIDE (587-7433). It's the smart thing to do.