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Comment by akirk | Hacker News Reader

I think the Pedibus (or walking bus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_bus ) is a good idea for having children walk to school.

It's a group of children walking to school accompanied by two adults along predefined routes. There are bus stops where children wait for the Pedibus to arrive and then they walk along with the group.

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Piedibus ;p Pedibus isn't exactly a name parents would like ;p

Pied is foot in french.

Hm, it's called Pedibus in German http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedibus and Pédibus in French http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pédibus

pes, pedis: foot in latin.

He's pointing out that it souds like "pedobus". Exactly what the parents are trying to avoid.

Pedibus is Latin for "by feet".

One word from Greek:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pedophile

Another word from Latin:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pedestrian

That doesn't help give kids a sense of responsibility and independence, though.

It might be okay for very young children. Even I don't think that five-year-olds should be walking to school alone -- preferably their parents should walk with them, but if that's not an option due to work schedules then a walking bus isn't a terrible idea.

At eight or so, though, sensible children start to have their first rebellious streak and realise how stupid the idea of a "walking bus" is. I figure that when they're smart enough to figure that out, they're old enough to walk alone.

... yeah, I can't see that name catching on in the US.

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