On October 8, 2025 the Takoma Park Transit Planner and Police Department made observations of the TPMS Pick up and Drop off times in the TPMS parking lot and surrounding streets.
The findings were gathered into a report which can be found here.
The TPMS PTSA would like to gather your feedback on pick up and drop off, as well as Safe Routes to School topics affecting you and your student. Please share them through this form (the form will close on February 6, 2026).
These findings were presented at our January 2026 PTSA meeting. You can read the minutes here (includes links to meeting slides) or below.
Findings from the Observations of pickup and dropoff Review
Kayci-Ann from the City of Takoma Park presented the observations from the October 8, 2025 review. The review looked at two locations including at pickup and dropoff to see what a typical day at TPMS is like related to the movement of our students. Find out more at our website: https://www.tpmspta.org/pick-up-drop-off-observations-oct-2025/
There were many things that were working well:
- Students generally follow crossing rules
- Crosswalks and signals functioning as designed
- Bus stop locations appropriate with good visibility
- School staff actively assisting where possible
Challenges: the primary safety concern is related to heavy congestion blocking intersections. THis was worse in the afternoon because the dismissal is all at once. There were also concerns about vehicles making unsafe actions including …
Piney Branch Rd
- Vehicles stuck in intersection due to congestion
- Crossing guard arriving late / leaving early
- Guard not actively crossing students or using hand signals
- Red light violation exiting school.
Grant Ave
- Drop-off line backing onto Grant & Chestnut
- Students exiting vehicles into traffic lanes
- Mid-block crossings between parked cars
- Three-point turns and idling reduce roadway width
Another issue was the crossing guard did not arrive early enough and was not using appropriate signals and engaging students in safe behavior. This crossing guard has since been dismissed and is no longer working as a guard.
The recommendations are focused on things that can quickly improve student safety, examples.
- There isn’t a crossing guard at Grant, but the school does a great job picking up the need for assistance.
- Reinforce no-exit and no-turn
- Assess if Grant Ave can be one way and improve visibility. The overall goal is to make sure students, caregivers, staff, and community members are making sure that everyone is safe. The students are mostly operating in a safe manor with the cars having the largest negative impact. The City looks forward to continuing to work with the PTSA, the School, and others to make sure that everyone is safe.
Mr. Loznak thanked Kaysi-Ann, the TPMS Police Department, and the City for all their help and support to make sure our kids are safe. He also shared some adjustments that have already been made related to traffic flow. There were some students observed walking to parked cars across Piney Branch. This has been eliminated. There was also observed walking on Grant Ave, where our buses come up for pickup. Students have been asked to stay on the sidewalks. The school has already seen a difference in student and caregiver behavior. THere is a new crossing guard at the Piney Branch location to help students move safely to and from schools.
