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Interesting - so is it "a thing" in the US that the city runs a dedicated bus service for all schools/students? Quite a surprise for me considering how poor peo

Interesting - so is it "a thing" in the US that the city runs a dedicated bus service for all schools/students? Quite a surprise for me considering how poor people say public transport is in general in the US? In the UK some schools run their own bus things (in the same way that Goolge, Facebook et al do in San Francisco), but most of the other schools just get by with the public buses. There is often some coordination to make sure buses stop at/very near schools, and they may send extra ones at certain times - e.g. there were often several buses parked up and waiting empty at my school so they could be filled at the end of the school day, but any member of the public was then able to get onboard once it was on its usual route after that, and if you were late getting out (e.g. detention/sports etc) you'd just wait at the stop outside the school for the usual bus on its usual route to come by. What do the US school buses and their drivers do for the rest of the day and on weekends? Just sit idle?

nkrisc 7y ago
Many schools have a bus service because the general public transport is that poor. In some areas you have no other public transport. So either someone drives the kid to school or they don't go because they can't walk there.
ikeyany 7y ago
They're usually part-timers or neighborhood parents volunteering.
- illnewsthat 7y ago
  I have never heard of a bus driver being a volunteer position, is that something that happens near you? And, if so, is it a public school district?
  - w8rbt 7y ago
    This has been my experience as well. It's either retirees or stay at home moms/dads that drive the buses part time. They may not be purely volunteer (no pay), but it's definitely a part time job. Couple of hours in the morning and afternoon. Also, it seems to be mostly in rural areas. Some drivers keep the buses at home during the school year. And, these are large, full size buses. If you live in a medium sized or large city, it's probably different.
    - smileysteve 7y ago
      The government benefits package has been a major selling point in the past; If you want a pension (or second one as a retiree) it can really help the ends meet. Pay in the 2000s was about $24k a year.
  - ikeyany 7y ago
    It was in a school district that had two high schools, and my high school had 2,000 students. There were something like 15 elementary schools at the time. Yes, it is a public school district. Is that not normal?
- gmadsen 7y ago
  never heard of that. At least in California there are strict requirements and qualifications to be able to transport children on a school bus
  - pnutjam 7y ago
    Driving a school bus requires a CDL in every state.
    - ikeyany 7y ago
      If they enforced it, then it must not be that hard to get. It looks like you just need to take a test to get one.
      - moftz 7y ago
        The test is a bit more involved than a normal driving test. A normal test just involves reading street signs and how to handle things like right of way, don't pass on the right, use your blinker, basic important topics. CDL tests ask questions about maintenance (how often to inspect tires?), about how big trucks move on the road compared to little cars (which kind of truck could get stuck on a RR crossing?), and misc stuff like hazmat diamonds. It's not the hardest test in the world but it's more studying than a normal DL test.
        pnutjam 7y ago
        It also carries stricter enforcement of traffic violations, and mandatory drug testing. I got a ticket for an improper lane change and the judge asked if I had a CDL which seemed to imply it would have been revoked.
jefftk 7y ago
Most US cities and towns have minimal public transit that wouldn't be anywhere near sufficient for getting kids to and from school, so they run school buses instead. In some places with good public transit, like Somerville MA where I live, the city doesn't run school buses and people walk or take general purpose public transit, but that's very unusual here. It's the same deal as the tech shuttles: in places where public transit is good (NYC, Chicago, Boston) the tech companies don't run shuttles because there's no need. > What do the US school buses and their drivers do for the rest of the day and on weekends? Just sit idle? Yes. The drivers typically work a "split shift" with time off in the middle of the day, and the buses sit empty both then and on weekends.
- NordSteve 7y ago
  Another model is combination bus driver / school custodian jobs. Good article on long school bus rides: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/10/04/long-bus-ride-cook-county https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/10/04/long-bus-ride-cook-...
- Finnucane 7y ago
  In Somerville, it's hard to be more than a mile from the school. Cambridge, on the other hand, does run busses. It is true that the tech companies for the most part don't run private shuttles, MIT and Harvard do, though less for commuting than just connecting separated parts of their campuses.
- GarrisonPrime 7y ago
  My father was a school bus driver. The pickup and drop off routes were often 3 hours each, as they were mandated by local law to provide service to the whole country. Kindergarten is just half a day in many places, so the middle of the day would be another 3 hours to shift those around. There were also many field trips, sporting events, and other miscellaneous calls for transport throughout the day and into the evenings, as well as some weekends. Much of all of this would vary quite a bit depending on a particular town’s location, population needs, layout, etc. but I just wanted to say that although it’s a relatively chill job and there is indeed often a lot of downtime, it’s not like bus drivers universally work 1 hr in the morning, 1 hr in the afternoon, and then just bum around all day.
chapium 7y ago
Yes it is very ingrained in society and featured in many movies.
FussyZeus 7y ago
The school bussing (at least in my area of the States) is provided by a bus company which contracts with the school district. The bus company in turn maintains busses, and hires drivers (presumably?) part-time. They also provide bussing services for field trips, sporting events, etc. in addition to daily bussing to the school itself.
sailfast 7y ago
Yes. Our population densities are lower, school distances are often not walkable reasonably, and schools being public they want to ensure that their students are not impeded from getting to the classroom for any factors related to logistics, income, etc. Often times these are part-time positions. Set block of hours twice a day. Drivers can take on additional duties or other jobs. The buses themselves are either owned by a transportation company that can also hire them out on weekends or making additional money on field trips / sports transportation. My kids are fortunate enough to be able to walk to their school - there are sidewalks and it's only a half mile away, but many other students have a longer walk, no sidewalks, or other impediments that leads them to prefer a bus. Kids could take public transit, but typically this is not a great solution in most places, and it doesn't deliver you to a school directly. The latter factor helps with truancy, security, and a number of other things. There's a cost to it, but it is a norm. It would be straightforward for a school district to agree to change the policy or reduce bus service for cost reasons if public transit and things like walking, biking were preferred options. These are typically the norm for private schools.
- pnutjam 7y ago
  Indiana had a school district on the south side of Indianapolis that tried to stop busing students (https://www.governing.com/topics/education/gov-indiana-school-bus-ruling.html https://www.governing.com/topics/education/gov-indiana-schoo...). It was a mess, and frankly due to the irresponsible way the state handles funding schools. Certain districts around the Indianapolis area, refuse to approve tax referendums for their schools, while others have voters that are happy to fund education. It's unsustainable long term.
maxerickson 7y ago
The school district is usually a distinct entity with direct taxpayer support. The buses typically only serve students. Here, due to decreased enrollment and building closures, they pick up students at their front door. The drivers are mostly paid for just the hours they are driving, the buses sit idle except for things like out of town athletic events (where they transport the participants).
dec0dedab0de 7y ago
Interesting - so is it "a thing" in the US that the city runs a dedicated bus service for all schools/students? Quite a surprise for me considering how poor people say public transport is in general in the US? It's actually a thing because our public transport is so poor. Plus there are special laws for school buses to protect children. When a school bus picks up a child it is illegal to pass it on either side of the road. However in some places students do take public transportation. For example here is the pricing for school districts to use SEPTA, which is the public transportation in and around Philadelphia https://www.septa.org/fares/discount/students.html https://www.septa.org/fares/discount/students.html
Bluestrike2 7y ago
Generally speaking, US school systems consist of separate elementary, middle school/junior high, and (senior) high schools with staggered start and end times for the school day to accommodate buses. For example, back in high school I think the actual school day started around 7am or maybe 7:15am or so. I'd catch the bus at around ~6:30am as I lived towards the end of my bus route; some kids would be up earlier. The buses would drop off their charges with a bit of time to spare and head out again for the next schools (in order: high school, middle school(s), and elementary school(s)). At the end of the day, the buses would line up around the school (again, for my district, maybe 15-20 minutes before the final bell and with two 'flights' of buses, IIRC), load up the kids, and head out on their route in reverse before repeating at the next schools. It's not really an example of a functioning public transport system; it certainly works, but only in a very limited and specific context and without any flexibility. If a kid misses the bus either in the morning or after school (which can happen often), they're going to be waiting for a ride home from a family member. After-school programs required the same. And if you're in a rural community? The bus rides are longer, and you're waking up even earlier. But for a lot of suburban communities, there's no real alternative. If they have a bus system, it's probably for commuters and goes from specified stops (often from large "Park and Ride" lots) to the nearest city. In that sense, there often isn't a public bus to put kids on in much of the US. Assuming, of course, that parents would be willing to do so. Back in 2008, a writer wrote about letting her 9-year-old ride the bus and subway to school alone.[0] There was a ton of public outcry, and she was labeled "America's worst mom" and suggested it was equivalent to child abuse. But that's a different issue altogether. 0. http://nysun.com/opinion/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway-alone/73976/ http://nysun.com/opinion/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway...
- astura 7y ago
  How silly, I rode the city bus alone around 9, and this was before cell phones.
rsynnott 7y ago
I think quite a lot of rural schools in the UK would have some sort of specialised bus service. US suburban areas are generally much less dense than UK ones and often have much worse public transport, if any, so the rural routes are probably a better comparison.
closeparen 7y ago
School buses pick up at trivial distances from children's homes, where they can be visually supervised between the door and the bus either by their own parents or by a trusted neighbor. The bus driver passes a background check, and no other adults are allowed. The bus drops off right on school property, not on the other side of a fast road. If a school bus does not come, takes a long detour, or quits mid-route it is national news [0]. For people who can afford alternatives, riding public transit is something you do as an adventurous young adult, and maybe get turned off of even then (sexual harassment, aggressive panhandling, long delays and breakdowns). In the culture I grew up in, sending your 7 year old to navigate that unsupervised every day is bonkers. [0] https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Bus-Driver-Detour-Fort-Lauderdale-Broward-502008862.html https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Bus-Driver-Detour-Fort-L...

nkrisc 7y ago

Many schools have a bus service because the general public transport is that poor. In some areas you have no other public transport. So either someone drives the kid to school or they don't go because they can't walk there.

ikeyany 7y ago

They're usually part-timers or neighborhood parents volunteering.

illnewsthat 7y ago
I have never heard of a bus driver being a volunteer position, is that something that happens near you? And, if so, is it a public school district?
- w8rbt 7y ago
  This has been my experience as well. It's either retirees or stay at home moms/dads that drive the buses part time. They may not be purely volunteer (no pay), but it's definitely a part time job. Couple of hours in the morning and afternoon. Also, it seems to be mostly in rural areas. Some drivers keep the buses at home during the school year. And, these are large, full size buses. If you live in a medium sized or large city, it's probably different.
  - smileysteve 7y ago
    The government benefits package has been a major selling point in the past; If you want a pension (or second one as a retiree) it can really help the ends meet. Pay in the 2000s was about $24k a year.
- ikeyany 7y ago
  It was in a school district that had two high schools, and my high school had 2,000 students. There were something like 15 elementary schools at the time. Yes, it is a public school district. Is that not normal?
gmadsen 7y ago
never heard of that. At least in California there are strict requirements and qualifications to be able to transport children on a school bus
- pnutjam 7y ago
  Driving a school bus requires a CDL in every state.
  - ikeyany 7y ago
    If they enforced it, then it must not be that hard to get. It looks like you just need to take a test to get one.
    - moftz 7y ago
      The test is a bit more involved than a normal driving test. A normal test just involves reading street signs and how to handle things like right of way, don't pass on the right, use your blinker, basic important topics. CDL tests ask questions about maintenance (how often to inspect tires?), about how big trucks move on the road compared to little cars (which kind of truck could get stuck on a RR crossing?), and misc stuff like hazmat diamonds. It's not the hardest test in the world but it's more studying than a normal DL test.
      - pnutjam 7y ago
        It also carries stricter enforcement of traffic violations, and mandatory drug testing. I got a ticket for an improper lane change and the judge asked if I had a CDL which seemed to imply it would have been revoked.

jefftk 7y ago

Most US cities and towns have minimal public transit that wouldn't be anywhere near sufficient for getting kids to and from school, so they run school buses instead. In some places with good public transit, like Somerville MA where I live, the city doesn't run school buses and people walk or take general purpose public transit, but that's very unusual here. It's the same deal as the tech shuttles: in places where public transit is good (NYC, Chicago, Boston) the tech companies don't run shuttles because there's no need. > What do the US school buses and their drivers do for the rest of the day and on weekends? Just sit idle? Yes. The drivers typically work a "split shift" with time off in the middle of the day, and the buses sit empty both then and on weekends.

NordSteve 7y ago
Another model is combination bus driver / school custodian jobs. Good article on long school bus rides: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/10/04/long-bus-ride-cook-county https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/10/04/long-bus-ride-cook-...
Finnucane 7y ago
In Somerville, it's hard to be more than a mile from the school. Cambridge, on the other hand, does run busses. It is true that the tech companies for the most part don't run private shuttles, MIT and Harvard do, though less for commuting than just connecting separated parts of their campuses.
GarrisonPrime 7y ago
My father was a school bus driver. The pickup and drop off routes were often 3 hours each, as they were mandated by local law to provide service to the whole country. Kindergarten is just half a day in many places, so the middle of the day would be another 3 hours to shift those around. There were also many field trips, sporting events, and other miscellaneous calls for transport throughout the day and into the evenings, as well as some weekends. Much of all of this would vary quite a bit depending on a particular town’s location, population needs, layout, etc. but I just wanted to say that although it’s a relatively chill job and there is indeed often a lot of downtime, it’s not like bus drivers universally work 1 hr in the morning, 1 hr in the afternoon, and then just bum around all day.

chapium 7y ago

Yes it is very ingrained in society and featured in many movies.

FussyZeus 7y ago

The school bussing (at least in my area of the States) is provided by a bus company which contracts with the school district. The bus company in turn maintains busses, and hires drivers (presumably?) part-time. They also provide bussing services for field trips, sporting events, etc. in addition to daily bussing to the school itself.

sailfast 7y ago

Yes. Our population densities are lower, school distances are often not walkable reasonably, and schools being public they want to ensure that their students are not impeded from getting to the classroom for any factors related to logistics, income, etc. Often times these are part-time positions. Set block of hours twice a day. Drivers can take on additional duties or other jobs. The buses themselves are either owned by a transportation company that can also hire them out on weekends or making additional money on field trips / sports transportation. My kids are fortunate enough to be able to walk to their school - there are sidewalks and it's only a half mile away, but many other students have a longer walk, no sidewalks, or other impediments that leads them to prefer a bus. Kids could take public transit, but typically this is not a great solution in most places, and it doesn't deliver you to a school directly. The latter factor helps with truancy, security, and a number of other things. There's a cost to it, but it is a norm. It would be straightforward for a school district to agree to change the policy or reduce bus service for cost reasons if public transit and things like walking, biking were preferred options. These are typically the norm for private schools.

pnutjam 7y ago
Indiana had a school district on the south side of Indianapolis that tried to stop busing students (https://www.governing.com/topics/education/gov-indiana-school-bus-ruling.html https://www.governing.com/topics/education/gov-indiana-schoo...). It was a mess, and frankly due to the irresponsible way the state handles funding schools. Certain districts around the Indianapolis area, refuse to approve tax referendums for their schools, while others have voters that are happy to fund education. It's unsustainable long term.

maxerickson 7y ago

The school district is usually a distinct entity with direct taxpayer support. The buses typically only serve students. Here, due to decreased enrollment and building closures, they pick up students at their front door. The drivers are mostly paid for just the hours they are driving, the buses sit idle except for things like out of town athletic events (where they transport the participants).

dec0dedab0de 7y ago

Interesting - so is it "a thing" in the US that the city runs a dedicated bus service for all schools/students? Quite a surprise for me considering how poor people say public transport is in general in the US? It's actually a thing because our public transport is so poor. Plus there are special laws for school buses to protect children. When a school bus picks up a child it is illegal to pass it on either side of the road. However in some places students do take public transportation. For example here is the pricing for school districts to use SEPTA, which is the public transportation in and around Philadelphia https://www.septa.org/fares/discount/students.html https://www.septa.org/fares/discount/students.html

Bluestrike2 7y ago

Generally speaking, US school systems consist of separate elementary, middle school/junior high, and (senior) high schools with staggered start and end times for the school day to accommodate buses. For example, back in high school I think the actual school day started around 7am or maybe 7:15am or so. I'd catch the bus at around ~6:30am as I lived towards the end of my bus route; some kids would be up earlier. The buses would drop off their charges with a bit of time to spare and head out again for the next schools (in order: high school, middle school(s), and elementary school(s)). At the end of the day, the buses would line up around the school (again, for my district, maybe 15-20 minutes before the final bell and with two 'flights' of buses, IIRC), load up the kids, and head out on their route in reverse before repeating at the next schools. It's not really an example of a functioning public transport system; it certainly works, but only in a very limited and specific context and without any flexibility. If a kid misses the bus either in the morning or after school (which can happen often), they're going to be waiting for a ride home from a family member. After-school programs required the same. And if you're in a rural community? The bus rides are longer, and you're waking up even earlier. But for a lot of suburban communities, there's no real alternative. If they have a bus system, it's probably for commuters and goes from specified stops (often from large "Park and Ride" lots) to the nearest city. In that sense, there often isn't a public bus to put kids on in much of the US. Assuming, of course, that parents would be willing to do so. Back in 2008, a writer wrote about letting her 9-year-old ride the bus and subway to school alone.[0] There was a ton of public outcry, and she was labeled "America's worst mom" and suggested it was equivalent to child abuse. But that's a different issue altogether. 0. http://nysun.com/opinion/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway-alone/73976/ http://nysun.com/opinion/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway...

astura 7y ago
How silly, I rode the city bus alone around 9, and this was before cell phones.

rsynnott 7y ago

I think quite a lot of rural schools in the UK would have some sort of specialised bus service. US suburban areas are generally much less dense than UK ones and often have much worse public transport, if any, so the rural routes are probably a better comparison.

closeparen 7y ago

School buses pick up at trivial distances from children's homes, where they can be visually supervised between the door and the bus either by their own parents or by a trusted neighbor. The bus driver passes a background check, and no other adults are allowed. The bus drops off right on school property, not on the other side of a fast road. If a school bus does not come, takes a long detour, or quits mid-route it is national news [0]. For people who can afford alternatives, riding public transit is something you do as an adventurous young adult, and maybe get turned off of even then (sexual harassment, aggressive panhandling, long delays and breakdowns). In the culture I grew up in, sending your 7 year old to navigate that unsupervised every day is bonkers. [0] https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Bus-Driver-Detour-Fort-Lauderdale-Broward-502008862.html https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Bus-Driver-Detour-Fort-L...