School Stops Project

Overview

The School Stops Project helps students audit their own walk, bus, or bike commute. Students document hazards, time routes, photograph conditions, and produce a report on what fixes their school needs.

The finished report comes from the students who make the trip, not from an outside organization speaking over them.

Motivation

Nobody knows a school’s transit access problem better than the students who navigate it every day. Missing sidewalks, unsafe crossings, poorly located stops, long waits, and confusing routes affect attendance, independence, safety, and family schedules.

Adults in authority need a student-led record they can respond to. A report with photos, timing, and named hazards carries a kind of authority that general advocacy cannot match.

Approach

LVBT will recruit through High School Outreach, starting with civics teachers, AP Government teachers, student government, and interested student leaders.

Students will use a simple audit toolkit for route mapping, hazard photos, timing, and stop evaluation. Each school can be paired with a Youth Corps fellow or LVBT volunteer editor to help turn observations into a clear public report.

Activities

Participating students will publish school access reports with route observations, photos, commute timing, hazard notes, and the fixes they want decision-makers to consider. The reports will be written for public use, not just classroom credit.

LVBT will help students present findings to the school board, RTC, city staff, or neighborhood partners. The work can identify concrete asks such as safer crossings, bus-stop shelters, schedule changes, shade, bike access, or school-route improvements.