Walking buses need best foot forward

By BRIDGET CARTER

You may see them running in their dressing gowns, waving furiously to a bunch of children while rushing their own child down the driveway.

They are the disorganised parents who hold up the walking school-bus.

On footpaths throughout New Zealand, the walking school-bus can be seen with a string of children behind an adult - the volunteer walking a group of children to their local school.

But sometimes, the buses run late.

That was the case yesterday on the first day of term at Gladstone Primary School, in the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert - the first school in the country to bring the walking-bus concept alive.

The 60-student "Zippy" bus, as it is dubbed by the school, arrived just in time, thanks to the adult helper Ces Pettit's no-nonsense approach to waiting for slow parents.

But sadly, the school's other walking bus, the "Rocket bus", was late.

Principal Ian Taylor said yesterday was typical of some mornings when the walking bus was a few minutes late due to a few stressed parents who took some time getting organised.

Deputy principal Judd McLauchlan said some parents dropped their children off at school when they missed the walking bus and the traffic problems around the school were "crazy".

About 120 of the school's 1000 students travel to school with the walking bus.

Sue Crombie, who runs the walking bus at Forrest Hill School on the North Shore, said parents did run late, but that was "human nature".

The walking-bus supervisors gave the parents one minute at the walking bus drop-off point, "but if we can't see them, we go".

"Some people are not with it in the morning and some people are going to be a couple of minutes late," Ms Crombie said.

"I have seen one lady who [volunteers as a walking-bus supervisor] running down the hill saying, 'I am late again' ... I am sure it happens in all of them."

Since the walking-bus concept began two years ago, the number of walking buses throughout the country has climbed to 120.

Road safety co-ordinators said some walking buses were late when they first started, but most worked well after initial teething problems.