The Waterford Public School District has welcomed a new bus company, First Student, to provide transportation for students this year.
Since the old bus company (STA)’s contract was up, the business office across from the WHS solicited bids for the Waterford route to other bus companies, and First Student won. There have already been complaints about the bus company.
At the beginning of the year, when the seniors went on their senior trip to Brownstone, they needed buses to get back and forth. When the trip ended, the students were waiting for the bus to come back and pick them up, but some of the buses were late. Buses were not coordinated for the trip, so half of the senior class was left waiting for their bus to arrive while the other half of the grade left on buses that had arrived earlier.
Ms. Bono, the advisor for this year’s Brownstone trip, stated, “The buses arrived roughly 30 minutes late. The first two arrived about 10 minutes before the second two, which were coming from ELPS, as Waterford didn’t have enough available drivers. The chaperones had the students lined up and ready to board the buses as soon as they arrived, which historically came a little early, since it was a long day and everyone was tired. This resulted in students standing around idly for over 30 minutes. They became restless, as anyone would, but handled it very well, in my opinion. Upon boarding the bus, I heard the driver state that 5:00 was already an impossible time (even though that is the departure time I put on the bus request months prior) due to elementary school runs.”
In Bono’s opinion, “I thought it was very disrespectful of them not to communicate that to us and just show up when they could.”
Mr. Landry, our director of athletics and student activities, has all transportation for away games scheduled out. This year, for the new bus company, some of the buses have been late. This affects the warm-up time players have before a game starts.
Landry states, “[I think] the new bus company is pleasant to work with. Whenever there is a change, there are a few bumps in the road, but the bus company continues to work with the athletic department to make sure all our trips are covered.
The trouble that Landry sees in the athletic department is the driver shortage, which would be the “primary issue” as the struggle to find enough bus drivers and actually keep them leads to the double runs: bus drivers have to complete their regular bus runs first and then come back to the school for the athletic department, “causing significant delays.”
First Student did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Sophia Welcome, a junior at WHS, stated, “I like the new buses, they feel taller on the inside, I suppose. [One thing that] frustrates me a little [is] that they don’t have the numbers of the bus on the side or back because my bus is usually at the front, but occasionally it can be the last one in their lineup. I think [that STA (our old bus company) had] listened and fixed your complaints/issues, [more than] the new company [is not really doing much]. Like most kids, I have a different bus driver in the morning [than in the] afternoon. My morning bus driver has quit, but my afternoon one has stayed so far.”
Rose Kelley, also a student at WHS, states, “My friend told me her bus always drives past her house even when she was standing outside; they were driving too fast to see her.”
First Student, being the Waterford High School’s bus company, is starting with a rough start, but overall, students and staff are hopeful for things to get better throughout the year.
