There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get into the school in the morning and being met with a line seemingly 100 miles long. Of course, traffic is inevitable with only one entrance to the school and cars/buses coming from both sides. However, there seems to be days when there is significantly more traffic. So, what is the biggest factor that contributes to these morning traffic jams? 

During the week, it is a guessing game on whether you will get stuck in traffic on the way into school, or if you can just breeze on through. Many people have noticed that when it comes to morning traffic, whether it is good or bad, there is one common denominator: the traffic cop. 

Whether he is there or not, there is never a very smooth system for traffic in the mornings. 

Many people are upset with the way morning traffic is handled. With that being said, there are many different opinions on which method of traffic management is most effective.

To gain a better understanding of these opinions, students were surveyed on what they thought about the morning traffic and whether or not they like when the traffic cop is there. Here are some of their responses:

Like when the traffic cop is there:

Zach Bishopp, a senior at Pentucket who drives himself to school, prefers when the cop is directing traffic. He says, “Getting into the school, having a traffic cop there does not seem to have that much of an effect, I see it more when I am driving home. Taking a left out of the exit on the way home is much more difficult without the traffic cop there. When he is there it seems to be a lot more fluid and easy to get out.”

Gigi Parra, another senior who drives herself, also agrees that it is better when the traffic cop is there in the mornings to control the chaos. 

Senior, Morgan Trout, who also drives herself to school also likes when the traffic cop is there. She says, “I think that it makes the traffic less chaotic and less chances of car accidents, I think it moves quicker.”

Finally, junior Julia Bleichfeld, who drives herself to school, gives her opinion on why the traffic cop is helpful: “I think it makes the traffic flow smoother and not have any close calls or things like that.”

Dislike when the traffic cop is there:

One anonymous student, who gets dropped off by a parent/guardian, prefers when the cop is not there because, “When the cop was not there, people used a one after the other system and it was less confusing than the cop taking a few at a time then stopping.”

Katherine Wisniewski, a Pentucket junior who drives herself to school, also believes that traffic is smoother without the cop there. Wisniewski says, “I actually prefer when he’s not there. The times that he’s not are when the traffic moves the fastest. When he’s not there, people usually do the every-other rule where one car goes and then the next. It’s a pretty simple strategy and I don’t feel like it’s dangerous.”  

Finally, junior Brody Eaton, who gets dropped off by a parent/guardian says, “I prefer it when he is not there because I feel like the traffic is generally better when he is not there. Sometimes it just feels really slow when he is there.”

Other factors that affect morning traffic:

Senior, Teagan Hines believes that, “[With] the tardy policy, everyone is always rushing to school in the morning to not be late, so that is what causes such a big jam. If the school was more flexible about not considering people “tardy” by 7:35 I think it would help a LOT with the traffic situation.”

Another anonymous student agrees with this and says, “The tardy system [affects the traffic], people are speeding to school because of this and the parking lot is a mess because people are running around.”

Additionally, Wisniewski says that, “The place where drop off cars come out on the West Newbury side of the building always slows traffic. When people let them go- sometimes they let 3/4 cars go at a time which slows everything/ makes the line into school longer.” Other people also agree that only having one entrance and exit causes a lot of traffic in the mornings. 

Conclusion:

In general, it appears that most students actually prefer when the traffic cop is directing people into the school. Despite that, it is clear that people notice the traffic and are annoyed with it. 

So what do you think, what contributes to these morning traffic jams and how do we solve this problem?