BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Many showed up to the Parent Teacher Organization Transportation Summit Tuesday to have their voices heard in front of officials regarding their concerns about the lack of transportation and safety for BPS students.
Parents like Susan Boyd stood in front of officials who could make the change to better the transportation system for many students.
She says sometimes her daughter would have to be turned away by bus drivers because the bus would be too full.
“She’s being turned away by the bus,” Boyd says. “If she gets on an earlier bus she can't get in school she gets on a later bus she gets to school late so I don't know what a solution.”
A student spoke about her concerns on the restricted time when using the transportation cards after school hours.
“But the violence is still going on even in that two-hour cap and people who are just children are just not getting home because of this two-hour cap,” the student says. “They’re on the streets, and in dangerous situations because of his two-hour cap.”
The president of BPS Community Health Worker Parent & Student Association, Jessica Bauer Walker, adds more on how the two-hour cap impacts students.
“They may have one parent who lives on one side of the city and one parent who lives on another or need to take care of a family member,” she says. “So right now those restricted routes are only allowed to take one route they only have two hours to get where they need to go that can cause some other issues.”
An organizer of the summit, Keith Jones, tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person how he thinks this issue should be resolved.
“One idea would be put add more trains that would stop the congestion. We had special buses in front of the school to take you where you had to go,” says Jones. “So put special buses in front of school solve your problem. As far as teenagers fighting? That’s nature.”
The Chief Operating Officer of the Buffalo Public Schools, David Hills, says they’re working to better the transportation routes.
“Reduce ride times in lower rates of not having covered routes and on-time arrival dramatic improvements, but we still need to make sure we make more improvements,” says Hills.
The BPS released a statement explaining how they’re working to better students' commutes:
“Shortening the average length of time students are on buses, covering all bus routes, and using the full seven-hour instructional day provide more equitable instruction and social engagement. It is important to stress that the new three-tier system is continuing to improve coverage and avoid shortages. All morning bus routes have remained covered and afternoon coverage has significantly improved since last school year. BPS’ Department of Transportation continues to work with First Student, staff, and parents to increase efficiencies and help eliminate delays.”
They also spoke about the bus passes and restrictions for misbehaved students:
“While there are a small number of misbehaving students among our students, BPS is proud that the majority of our 30,000 students are responsible, respectful, and eager to learn. A misbehaving student's bus pass privileges has always been able to be revoked by the Buffalo Public Schools after a comprehensive review process based on the BPS code of conduct.”
First Student says they’re working with the school district to address the concerns of many parents and students.
“Everybody is adjusting to the new three-tier bell system it's actually going pretty well but again everybody's still adjusting to it, and there are some hiccups here and there,” says Rob Hummel, senior location manager of First Student in Buffalo. “But you know we are working out with the district to resolve all those problems and issues.”
Yet others want them to be a little bit more flexible to the concerns of the community.
“Because it’s the students first it should be and they can't, they can't survive without our business like we financially are supporting both companies,” says Edward Speidel, a parent.
