I live on a very quiet street off South Lakes Drive; quiet for about three months of the year. Three schools are located nearby. Around this time of year we start to hear the morning noise of cars passing below our bedroom window as teachers drive back to school to prepare for the coming school year. Soon there will be a steady stream of traffic behind the house as school traffic increases once classes begin.

It's estimated that between 10 and 20 percent of morning rush hour traffic is related to traveling to school. Most of those trips are very short, probably less than three miles and many are less than two miles. While that's a long walk, those are short trips by bike that take about 10-15 minutes, about the time it takes to start your car, fight morning traffic, park, and walk to the building. Many kids wait that long for the bus.

According to the League of American Bicyclists, "60 percent of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively. Since "cold starts" create high levels of emissions, shorter car trips are more polluting on a per-mile basis than longer trips."

We'd like to see more kids walking and biking to school. It's great exercise, is a chance to socialize with others, and is fun. Kids like to walk and bike. It gives them a great sense of freedom. Of course they need to learn how to walk and bike safely and our school system needs to do a better job of that, but parents play a strong role too.

Why not walk or bike with your kids to school. It may be difficult to juggle a busy schedule to do it but the payoff is huge; spending quality time with kids on their way to and from school.

If you must drive near a school, be on the lookout for more kids on the streets starting next week. It's up to all of us to make our streets safer for everyone.