Free-Riders

When we were talking about free riding, it made me think way back to when I was elementary school. They redistricted my neighborhood to a new school that was closer so we had to walk to it. There was a bike path that we used to walk to school it but it was by a busy road and we had to cross the busy road in order to get to the school. Obviously young children crossing a busy road could be a problem. The city couldn't put a stop light on the street because it's a "historic" road. So what they did was propose a levey that would create an underground crosswalk. If the levy passed, the crosswalk would be built. If the levy failed, it would be back to the drawing board.

The majority if people in the area having children attending the nearby school really pushed for the levy to pass. My next-door-neighbors had children in private schools and did not feel that they should be taxed by the city for an underground crosswalk that their children would "never use." They complained endlessly about it.

This made me think of the free-rider problem... especially since my neighbors kids did end up using the underground crosswalk when riding their bikes or walking their dog.

Jessica Kelly

TR 8:00