Last year, the school board parted ways with bus company Positive Connections due to complaints and contract infractions, leading to the agreement with First Student, which has, proven to be a much better service.
For starters, First Student is incredibly more reliable than Positive Connections. Last year, I gave up on taking the bus to school in the morning because I didn’t trust them. Sure, having my grandpa, who is in his mid-70s, drive me to school led to a few detentions for tardiness, but it was much better than standing outside waiting for a bus that probably would not come. Not only did I not trust them to show up in the morning, I had no clue what time the bus would come. Ever so often, we would get a new bus driver, so I didn’t know their tendencies and I wasn’t about to get up earlier to find out. The biggest problem from last year was definitely the inconsistency.
“Last year, one of the days in the winter, [the bus] didn’t show up until 8:10. I stood outside at my bus stop for 40 minutes waiting for the bus and it never came and it was negative degrees outside,” junior Amy Furlano said.
This year, I’m really happy with the consistency, however, one of the biggest problems I have with First Student is how after school, many buses come late. After school, I am tired and cranky and I just want to go home. The last thing I need is to wait up to 15 or 20 minutes for my bus to come. It’s not fun standing outside with a bunch of people who are also waiting for their bus.
“I’d wish that they would come on time [after school] so I don’t have to wait for my bus to come for like 15 minutes,” junior Weronika Jozwiak said. “My only concern is that they come a bit too late after school.”
My only other problem is the ID rule where the bus drivers are required to check students’ IDs, although not all bus drivers do so. This rule is very annoying. Not only does it slow down the bus load, but it’s just very convenient overall. Quite honestly, I find it unnecessary. The bus drivers see us every day, so they know whether we ride the bus or not, so what’s the need for them to constantly check our IDs?
“I don’t know why we do it, really. Like do they not trust us? I don’t know. I’m a bit confused on why we do it. I’m guessing they do it for safety reasons, but I mean, we’re all students. I don’t really think they need it,” Jozwiak said.
“I don’t think that the new ID rule makes much sense because if my bus driver sees me get on the same bus morning and afternoon, then they shouldn’t need to see my ID,” junior Saba Shalwani said.
“It’s an inconvenience because I don’t pull [my ID] out before the end of the day, so I have to wait outside and pull it out, but I mean, it’s policy I guess, so I’ll do it if I have to ride the bus, but I don’t see the point,” Furlano said.
According to assistant principal Mark Rigby, who is in charge of busses, this policy is to ensure that students paid for the bus.
“Bus service is not free for anyone unless they live less than 1.5 miles away from school. Therefore, the IDs show whether or not they have paid for the bus,” Rigby said.
I definitely understand that reason, but it’s still a big inconvenience considering the fact that bus drivers see us almost every day.
Overall, I believe First Student is a pretty trustworthy and reliable company. Sure they have their flaws, but they’re doing the best that they can. I do applaud them for their efforts. They’re doing very well considering that they have to transport 1,200 kids to school a day. The only down side is that many come late after school. Waiting is going to be hard during the winter due to the brutality of Chicago winters. Despite that and the ID policy, I’m pretty satisfied with bus service this year. I was actually happy when my grandpa told me I would have to continue riding the bus in the morning for the first time ever. Hopefully the consistency and reliability of First Student continues.
