Walkability Around Schools Dwindling

"'It’s getting worse and worse each year,' said Brad Smith, an environmental health and safety officer at the school district, 'because so many parents feel that they need to drop their kids at the front entrance of the school because they are concerned about harm.'

A school bus driver, Michelle Coleman, says middle schools are her biggest nightmare. 'The parents park right here where the buses need to be,' Ms. Coleman said the other day outside Florence Nightingale, northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Luz Bunacaba conceded that she was part of the problem. But with bus fare of $5 a day and the distance too far for her 15-year-old son to walk, Ms. Bunacaba parks in the bus lane. 'I have to,' she said, 'it’s the only way.'"