Traffic scheme roars ahead
Teenager comes up with a carpooling system for his school to help ease congestion
Abu Dhabi: Eighteen-year old American Bradley Anthony Lobo believes in minimalism and careful planning when overcoming obstacles. These views are apparent in the simple, yet effective ideas he has implemented to help save our environment.
Apart from being one of the leaders of the award-winning ‘Green Team' at The American Community School of Abu Dhabi, the teenager has spearheaded several initiatives to help the environment.
In one of his early efforts, Bradley's foremost project was to set up double-sided printing facilities within his school. As straightforward as it appears, its implementation required a lot of coordination and strategy development.
"The steps involved to get it off the ground required time and patience. Promoting the idea was equally important for its success."
Bradley's efforts eventually paid off.
"Ultimately, the double-sided printing programme was launched. The staff and students were glad to choose a more environmentally friendly way of printing while cutting costs for the school."
The teenager's prized initiative, however, was one that took almost a year. The year following his printing initiative, he formulated a plan to start a carpooling system for his school after recognising the effectiveness of the idea at American universities.
Parents' struggle
"Day after day I had witnessed traffic and chaos in the area surrounding my school, as parents struggled to drop off and pick up their children. I realised how many students at ACS would benefit from having a carpooling system in place."
Bradley and fellow school student Omar Akileh set out to create an online carpooling website. Working after school, on weekends and during holidays, the duo finally produced a prototype for the website they called ‘Carpooling@ACS'. After many tests, the new initiative will be officially launched after the summer break.
"Omar Akileh represents the sustainability of the project, as I will be leaving to attend university in the United States. We hope that this initiative will be a model of change for other schools in the country, and we plan to contact schools in the area to implement similar programmes in the near future."
