Feds Throw School Kids Under the Cheesewagon
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.21.08
School bus art by 4ever30something
In Rochester, New York, a lot of kids take public transit to school; the transit authority even organized its routes and service times to accommodate them, which seems logical enough. But it is not logical to the Federal Transit Administration; according to the Campaign for America's Future:
The FTA's regional administrator, Brigid Hynes-Cherin, said the authority's actions violated regulations governing federal mass transit funding because even though the routes could be used by general public, they weren't primarily for the general public. Plus, she added—and here is where we get to the real nub of the issue—public bus systems can't use federal money to provide services that compete with, or crowd out, private sector bus companies.
However the owner of the biggest private cheesewagon company says that the rule doesn't go far enough "to protect private school bus operators from federally subsidized public transit operators."
Who knew that the role of government was to protect private bus operators from being ravaged by Public Transit. Or that in a time of expensive energy, they would waste so much by insisting on a parallel universe of buses when one (public) system worked just fine. Campaign for America's Future: via ::Planetizen
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This is so sad. I used to live in Rochester, and went to the U of R. I took the bus regularly, and they have a great public transportation system there. It services all kinds of people. I don't know that I ever took a route that serviced public school kids specifically, but it provided for all kindsof people. I think this rule is silly, because Public transit is there for the public, and in Rochester why does the federal government have to step in when something is working.
Ah, red tape. Bureaucracy's way of making another bureaucracy.
where i live, and i believe there are similar rules everywhere, school buses will only pick up children who live more than 2 miles from the school. We live 1.7 miles and the school thinks my young children should cross 3 busy streets at rush hour to get home - their advice for safety? walk in a group. people routinely drive 50mph in school zones, and some seem to be slowing down to get to that speed.
my kids have friends who ride the public buses, we pick ours up or they walk to a friends house near the school. I don't like them to ride the public bus - there are some really creepy and shady people who ride those buses after school. i don't want my kids exposed to them or those creepy people to know which stop they get off at.
But, if there are no scary people on those public buses in Rochester, the private bus people should chill. the public buses can get the kids they refuse.
A town is empowered to own schoolbuses, sorry! Private school buses drive down my street all the time, and I think they TRY to hit people. The most irresponsible drivers on the road. The safety of our kids shouldn't be second to the scheduling concerns of some operator interested only in money.
Yeah I was just going to mention the 2 mile rule... what happens to children that don't get picked up by the bus because of where the live? There's no competition there, so then, public transit seems like a viable way to do this, no? And about the creepy people... if you have monitor or parent volunteer on the bus to and from school with the children, then what's the problem? Parents... be active! Take control and do your part! Just because your children are leaving to school doesn't mean they aren't your responsibility for that time period until they arrive at your doorstep again (not directed to any other comments above.)
The "creepy" person on the bus comment made me think of the story of the NYC mom who let her 9 year old son ride the subway alone. Remember the controversy it generated?
This post and the comments are related to a recent entry in our blog that readers may be interested in: Free Ride: Public Transportation with Babies & Kids.
It is not about kids taking public transit to school, but rather starting them off early so that it is a part of their lives from the beginning.
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