for those who know where your bus stop is....

egpitt22 · August 2013

...how far away from your home is it? We got our schedules, and they moved the stop from previous years. There used to be 2 stops, one closer to our house, and this other one that now everyone has to go to. It's now quite a ways away from our house, at least in comparison to where it used to be. before, it was maybe a 3 minute walk. Now, it's probably closer to 8 minutes or so, and that's straight up a hill for about half of that walk.

I hate to complain about stuff, but it just seems like a far distance for little legs to be expected to walk! But maybe that's just my lazy side coming out.

AmandaJLewis · August 2013

Emmy- I think ours is at the end of the street (you have been to the hood, right?) so I would say 2 minutes. If it isn't there it is just down the end of the cross street, so that would make it another 50ft or so downhill. Either way, under a tenth of a mile.

I just mapped my elementary and high school bus stops and they were both about a tenth of a mile as well. Kinda funny... high school was an uphill walk in the morning, downhill in the afternoon. Before we moved we had a flat walk, but had to cross a busier street (without a crossing guard!?!?)

)

egpitt22 · August 2013

2 different map apps, one says .3 miles the other says .4, so somewhere around there. (7-8 minute walk) I should also add that we have no sidewalks in our 'hood.

AmandaJLewis · August 2013

I would think walking from your house up to that cross street would be reasonable. The S one. But do you have to go further than that?

Jefsnickerdodle · August 2013

Ours is at the end of our block. For those of you that have been to my house, by the stop sign.

We are lucky we happen to live near the end of the block! I think the kids from down the street both ways have to walk to our corner. It's 2 houses and an apartment from our house. I would totally stand on the porch and watch him come and go, but they won't let you do that for the little kids.

What I don't know, is what time he needs to get it and if we have to pick him up at 11:05 or if they get a bus home too? I know when I was little you either got the bus coming or going and then picked up or dropped off if you were am or pm...

waltsgirl102503 · August 2013

Our stop is one house down. We are lucky. We have other people on our street that it's a much further walk for.

Although, this year, since the new school is just under a mile away we are considered "walkers". So even though every single bus will go past our house on the way to school, Noah won't get a bus. I guess they figure if a mile or less is considered to be a "walker", then walking .3 or .4 miles to get to a bus stop isn't too far.

egpitt22 · August 2013

AmandaJLewis said:

I would think walking from your house up to that cross street would be reasonable. The S one. But do you have to go further than that?

Amanda, it's walking from our house to the stop sign to leave my development, up that hill, pass the first street intersection, go to the 2nd street intersection. It's a 4 way intersection with a stop sign for 3 ways.

AmandaJLewis · August 2013

Then I agree, that is far based on my very limited bus experiences.

Amber, our whole community growing up was in one square mile, if they had used the 1 mile rule I think only a few people would have qualified for a bus ride. But EJ will be a walker for middle school and highschool. which I am ok with

kris356 · August 2013

There are rules for bus stops, no cul-de-sacs and other weird things. So they may be saying they can't turn a bus around on your street.

Plus less stops means shorter routes and less buses especially when a district sub-contracts out their buses which your district does. So, it really is a money issue, less buses equals less charge to the district. Also, if it was in front a house, the homeowner may have complained. They like to go to intersections, so I am assuming it is at the end of you street at the four way?

My sisters' stop was about .4 miles from my parents house which was a marked improvement from the original one because they wouldn't "cross district lines". Nathan's district had huge issues when they reduced the number of stops, but it cuts significant time from the route by not stopping every couple of houses.
You could try calling them and complaining. Nathan said he will find out the max distance that elementary kids can walk tomorrow (he is already home from work).

egpitt22 · August 2013

Kris-if you could let me know, that would be great! we're not on a cul-de-sac, we're in a circle, so I know before the bus would pick up at the intersection, then drive around the circle to turn around.

Ok, it's probably closer to .3 miles, looks like the one that was saying .4 was taking it from my backyard as the starting point? weird. anyway, somewhere around .3 miles. Which doesn't sound like that far, but I swear, when I'm walking it myself or looking up that hill, it just seems like a far way for such little kids with no sidewalks!

kris356 · August 2013

Growing up, ours was at the bottom of our neighborhood (k-12) Our neighborhood was a giant circle, like a ribbon. The bad thing was that it was downhill to school, not home and we lived in the center and it sucked. It was probably about .3 mile

kris356 · August 2013

Okay, I found the answer, they can require a walk of up to 1.5 miles. And if you live within 1.5 miles of the school, you can be considered a walker.

From the PA Dept of Education Website FAQ:

Q. How far may a child be asked to walk to a school bus stop?

A. The law allows a school district to ask a child, regardless of age, to walk

up to a mile and a half to a bus stop. The mile and a half is measured by

public roads and does not include any private lane or walkway of the

child's residence.

egpitt22 · August 2013

wow, a mile & a half! I guess I should just shut my mouth, sheesh. that seems crazy.

northhillsbride · August 2013

I thought the no sidewalk issue would change the bus rule, no? I would have a hard time letting my kid walk to the stop with no sidewalks to walk on. Hardly seems safe.

In our PA house, the only positive I found to living at the entrance to the neighborhood was that the bus would pass our house coming and going. The morning driver wasn't the nicest, so I would take Gavin up to the stop (a few houses away) on my way to work. Coming home, the afternoon driver would stop at our house and drop him off (which only started when I was home on maternity leave in the Winter months).

What I will suggest is calling the bus depot. Our afternoon driver told me that the entrance corner to our neighborhood was technically a stop, even though our assignment letter did not state that. I called the depot and they told me that that was true. However, when I tried it for morning pickup, the driver refused stating it was a safety issue coming right off the main road and stopping. Our bus system (and that driver) was strange, though. LOL Can't hurt to call and get it right from the Manager's mouth.

Good luck!

MrsAmers · August 2013

I was curious, so I looked at Google Earth. From K to 5th grade I walked .3 miles to school and the current walk from our house to our neighborhood coffee shop is .3 miles. So the distance doesn't seem bad to me. The biggest issue I see is that 5-6 year olds get distracted on walks, so I would definitely leave time to stop because of bugs, worms, puddles, etc.

kris356 · August 2013

northhillsbride said:

I thought the no sidewalk issue would change the bus rule, no? I would have a hard time letting my kid walk to the stop with no sidewalks to walk on. Hardly seems safe.
In our PA house, the only positive I found to living at the entrance to the neighborhood was that the bus would pass our house coming and going. The morning driver wasn't the nicest, so I would take Gavin up to the stop (a few houses away) on my way to work. Coming home, the afternoon driver would stop at our house and drop him off (which only started when I was home on maternity leave in the Winter months).
What I will suggest is calling the bus depot. Our afternoon driver told me that the entrance corner to our neighborhood was technically a stop, even though our assignment letter did not state that. I called the depot and they told me that that was true. However, when I tried it for morning pickup, the driver refused stating it was a safety issue coming right off the main road and stopping. Our bus system (and that driver) was strange, though. LOL Can't hurt to call and get it right from the Manager's mouth.
Good luck!

The sidewalk issue only comes up if you live on a highway, residential streets it doesn't matter if there are sidewalks or not since that is a township issue. My siblings had sidewalks when in Franklin Park but once they got to the houses in Ohio Twp, no sidewalks. This is the same neighborhood, heck the same residential street but Franklin Park required sidewalks with new construction and Ohio Township did not.

It is a safety issue to pick up and drop kids off only at their assigned stops. A driver can get in a lot of trouble for making extra stops or not dropping a child off at their assigned stop. When a parent calls the bus garage and says their kid is not home, the first thing they do is find out if the driver dropped them off at their assigned stop (cameras on the bus can verify). Plus additional stops add time to a route.

egpitt22 · August 2013

I dropped an email to the transportation director yesterday, mostly just asking about the reasoning behind the bus stop changes (going from 3 stops in our neighborhood to 1), and if there was any chance at all of it being moved back. I received what I'm pretty sure was a form email back (which is fine, I'm sure they are getting a million emails and phone calls) basically saying that the stop meets the standards of a bus route and that the move from 3 stops to 1 was financial.

bride2003 · August 2013

Our stop is at the end of our driveway so no complaining here but then again she's one of 2 in the neighborhood that attend the school. I would imagine that many will drive & drop their kids off at the stop = I see a lot of that in our neighborhood & others esp. in the cold when they are little.

MamaMaria11 · August 2013

Ours is 0.3mi away too... we are a different district but we do have the same "no sidewalks" in our neighborhood. Having gone to the stop to get O off the bus, It really is only an issue in the rain and extreme heat.

A few Elementary students even walked home alone, too. However, All the old people in the neighborhood definitely watched all the gets get safely home off the bus.

6307bride · August 2013

Our bus stop is through our neighbors yard across the alley way on the Main Street here leading to a main drag...I thought originally I would have to call to complain that it would be on the main drag but luckily there are three other kids older than Faith at her bus stop. But she will only be bussed to school (even though she is all day!!)! So we walked over to the neighbors house and asked permission for my mom to walk through their yard since she will be putting her on the bus most the time...

for those who know where your bus stop is....

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