Survey Documents Student Commuting Patterns
Student commutes at seven local high schools generate 13 million pounds of greenhouse gas each year, 
according to surveys conducted by students participating in the Climate Protection Campaign’s ECO2school program.
The survey is part of the year-long effort by students to encourage classmates to walk, bike, ride the bus, and carpool to school. ECO2school is training students to be leaders on climate protection, including changing commute patterns.
The portion of students getting to school in single passenger cars ranged from 45 percent at Casa Grande High to 59 percent at Analy High. Only 15 percent of students at the seven schools walk or bike to school and five percent ride the bus. The school with the lowest emissions per student is Healdsburg, where a third of students walk or bike to school. The highest emissions per student are at El Molino, where less than one percent of students walk or bike to school.
Now that the schools have established baseline data, students will conduct an educational campaign in April with incentives to change commute habits. They will then do another survey to measure the impact. Based on similar initiatives in previous years, we expect an emission reduction of about 20 percent from the program.
- Congratulations Ann Hancock, recipient of the Heart of Sonoma County lifetime achievement award - June 17, 2022
- What the new UN climate science report means for California - August 11, 2021
- Woody Hastings named Sonoma County Environmentalist of the Year - December 17, 2019
How does Monty compare to El Molino?
Montgomery
1737
number
of
students
Average
distance
per
school:
3.5
miles
60%
of
students
living
within
a
3-‐mile
radius
of
school
Students
drive
to
school
87%
of
the
time,
85%
of
those
students
drive
100%
of
the
time.
Students
walk
or
bike
to
school
9%
of
the
time
Students
take
the
bus
to
school
4%
or
the
time.
38%
of
driving
trips
are
carpools
with
2.2
students
in
the
carpool.
Average
week
for
all
students
Gallons
of
gas:
3,203
Cost:
$11,980
Lbs.
of
CO2
in
a
week:
67,563