While folks across B.C. look forward to longer summer days ahead, Langford Coun. Kimberley Guiry already has winter on her mind.
With the jump now made to permanent daylight saving time, Guiry has flagged concerns about longer dark fall and winter mornings and the impact on children’s safety.
From early November until the end of February, she warns that kids who begin their commute around 8 a.m. will be walking to school in the dark.
Of particular concern for Guiry are the older Langford neighbourhoods, which have wider roads, lack sidewalks and are not as well-lit.
Guiry wants the province to work proactively with the city and other municipalities to ensure there are safe routes to schools.
However, the province has paused its active transportation infrastructure grant program, pending a review currently underway.
While the outcome of the review is expected in the fall, Guiry is calling on the province to instead immediately reopen the program, prioritizing safe routes to school projects.
She brought forward a motion to council Monday (March 16), asking the city to pen a letter to the province asking for help.
“If we’re going to have eight months to prepare, we would like to have as many tools as possible in order to do the best we can in order to create the best situation possible,” she said, speaking to Goldstream Gazette.
“We can make municipal dollars go a lot further when we have the province as a partner.”
Guiry points to the Latoria Road sidewalk and bike lane project as an example of what can be achieved when the two work together. Langford was awarded $1 million from the province’s grant program last year to support construction of a safe route to school for students of SCIANEW STELITKEL Elementary.
“We’ve had great feedback from the community about what that means for parents feeling safe with their kids going to school,” she said.
Premier David Eby announced the move to permanent daylight saving time in early March. He said it will improve people’s overall health, reduce disruptions for families, simplify scheduling and provide an extra hour of evening light during the winter months.
It also brings B.C. in line with other communities in the province that have already made the change, including Creston and Fort St. John, explained Eby.
”They haven’t seen those negative impacts,” he said when asked about the impact on school travel in the fall and winter. “And they’ve seen significant benefits from getting an extra hour of light at the end of the day when the majority of human activity is taking place.”
Despite Eby’s confidence in the time change, not all Langford parents are convinced.
Bodhi St John, whose 10-year-old attends Grade 4 at Ruth King, supports ending the biannual clock changes, but feels the province should have stuck with standard time.
He says the walk to school already presents enough safety challenges, including cars speeding in school zones, distracted drivers and students crossing busy roads and intersections.
“To add complete darkness to that seems to me like a recipe for disaster,” he said.
Like other places that made the switch to permanent daylight saving time, only to later roll the decision back, St John thinks B.C. will eventually do the same.
“I like extended light in the evening, especially in the winter, but I don’t think it’s worth trading the safety of the children,” he said.
The switch to permanent daylight saving time is also worrying for families at Savory Elementary, who will be navigating a new route to school starting in April after the pedestrian overpass connecting Atkins Avenue to the school permanently closes.
While the city is constructing a new protected pedestrian route, parents say the new route poses risks, particularly in the darker months. Students will be walking before sunrise along a route that includes a hill and a blind corner onto the E&N Trail.
Mom of three Heather Gollmer worries this could increase the risk of collisions between distracted students and cyclists using the trail.
“And we’ll be doing this in the dark every day for half of the school year,” she said.
As a new driver, Kelly-Jaymes Beck, who is a member of the Ruth King parent advisory council, worries about spotting kids dressed head-to-toe in black on rainy, dark mornings.
She also thinks commuting before sunrise will encourage families to choose to drive to school rather than walk.
“I know we’re trying to get people out of their cars, and we want kids to walk to school, but as a parent, do you really want your elementary kid walking to school in total darkness? Not likely,” said Beck.
But driving is not an option for all families, says Guiry, especially those on a lower income.
To help the more vulnerable members of the community, she wants the province to help establish a program ensuring all students have access to visibility-enhancing resources, such as lights and reflective gear. Her motion also calls for the expansion of The Society for Children and Youth of BC’s Walking School Bus program.
“Most of us have resources in order to make adjustments,” Guiry said. “I’m really grateful I can give my kids reflective gear and lights and I can light them up like a Christmas tree, but that’s a privilege, and I know not everyone has access to that.”