Petition: Later MCPS school start times

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

The great thing about buses is that they can accommodate more riders.

Nobody is proposing that students should take public transit (RideOn, Metrobus, Metro rail, MARC train, Purple Line when it opens) where there isn't any.

Not to mention that the "wide swaths" of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop also don't have most of the people. The wide swaths of the county that are near bus stops have most of the people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

You make this statement like increasing ridership and transit routes/capabilities should not be a key priority for a county that wants to grow and keeps building dense housing. For that matter a county that has Sustainability goals.

Except adults wouldn't be going to the same place as kids, so those new buses would take awfully circuitous routes.

Why? Most of the high schools, right now, are served by existing routes. Kids could take existing buses, on existing routes, to and from school. Which kids are actually currently doing, right now. Even middle-school kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

You make this statement like increasing ridership and transit routes/capabilities should not be a key priority for a county that wants to grow and keeps building dense housing. For that matter a county that has Sustainability goals.

Except adults wouldn't be going to the same place as kids, so those new buses would take awfully circuitous routes.

Why? Most of the high schools, right now, are served by existing routes. Kids could take existing buses, on existing routes, to and from school. Which kids are actually currently doing, right now. Even middle-school kids.

I am envisioning my whole neighborhood of HS kids getting on the little RideOn that comes by our neighborhood every 30 mins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

You make this statement like increasing ridership and transit routes/capabilities should not be a key priority for a county that wants to grow and keeps building dense housing. For that matter a county that has Sustainability goals.

Except adults wouldn't be going to the same place as kids, so those new buses would take awfully circuitous routes.

Why? Most of the high schools, right now, are served by existing routes. Kids could take existing buses, on existing routes, to and from school. Which kids are actually currently doing, right now. Even middle-school kids.

I am envisioning my whole neighborhood of HS kids getting on the little RideOn that comes by our neighborhood every 30 mins.

And thinking about it...does no where close to the HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

You make this statement like increasing ridership and transit routes/capabilities should not be a key priority for a county that wants to grow and keeps building dense housing. For that matter a county that has Sustainability goals.

Except adults wouldn't be going to the same place as kids, so those new buses would take awfully circuitous routes.

Why? Most of the high schools, right now, are served by existing routes. Kids could take existing buses, on existing routes, to and from school. Which kids are actually currently doing, right now. Even middle-school kids.

I am envisioning my whole neighborhood of HS kids getting on the little RideOn that comes by our neighborhood every 30 mins.

Well, yes, when you live in low-density Potomac, there aren't a lot of public transit options. But most people in Montgomery County don't live in low-density Potomac.

[Anonymous]

I honestly think the job/sport/childcare concerns are more difficult than the transportation concerns.

It's true that many parts of the county are relatively well-served by public transportation. For example, I'd warrant that the entire Blair zone has a public transit option, or could have one pretty easily.

But the other concerns remain. We would need a 10-year plan to get to a place where free appropriate childcare was available for every school-aged child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still haven't seen anyone who supports changing the bell times respond to the fact that many high school students have after-school jobs, and many others look after their younger siblings after school. Are people saying we should just ignore the needs of these families?

Younger elementary aged siblings are not getting home until almost 4:30. There may be some who care for baby and toddler siblings after school but probably not as many as you think. Maybe someone should prioritize the health and adequate sleep of high school students for once. Why must we always prioritize the needs of adults?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

You make this statement like increasing ridership and transit routes/capabilities should not be a key priority for a county that wants to grow and keeps building dense housing. For that matter a county that has Sustainability goals.

Except adults wouldn't be going to the same place as kids, so those new buses would take awfully circuitous routes.

Why? Most of the high schools, right now, are served by existing routes. Kids could take existing buses, on existing routes, to and from school. Which kids are actually currently doing, right now. Even middle-school kids.

I am envisioning my whole neighborhood of HS kids getting on the little RideOn that comes by our neighborhood every 30 mins.

And thinking about it...does no where close to the HS

RideOn 301 does serve Wootton HS: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-Transit/routesandschedules/allroutes/Route301.html

And also RideOn 56: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-Transit/routesandschedules/allroutes/route056.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still haven't seen anyone who supports changing the bell times respond to the fact that many high school students have after-school jobs, and many others look after their younger siblings after school. Are people saying we should just ignore the needs of these families?

Younger elementary aged siblings are not getting home until almost 4:30. There may be some who care for baby and toddler siblings after school but probably not as many as you think. Maybe someone should prioritize the health and adequate sleep of high school students for once. Why must we always prioritize the needs of adults?

Have you read this report?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/info/belltimesworkgroup/Rpt2013BellTimesWorkGrpReport.pdf

What has changed since then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what? It’s good practice for high schoolers to be prepared for 8am classes in college or the workforce.

Exactly what I was thinking! I remember that 8am Chemistry class freshmen year.

I told my kids this would happen but they proved me wrong. Both my college kids have successfully avoided 8 am classes. As a matter of fact, even as freshman they worked their schedules to start classes much later.

And my sophomore in college has 8am classes twice a week. He leaves his apartment at 7am to drive, get coffee, and make it to class a few minutes early.

My mcps high school student gets up at 7am and hustles out the door by 7:15ish. NBD.

I teach college students and they're zombies before 10am so maybe your child is an anomaly.

My mcps student has to get on the bus at 6:50, arrives at school at 7:15, and has to wait 30 minutes for class to start. Seems like an extra 30 minutes of sleep would be better than sitting in a hallway on her phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

The great thing about buses is that they can accommodate more riders.

Nobody is proposing that students should take public transit (RideOn, Metrobus, Metro rail, MARC train, Purple Line when it opens) where there isn't any.

Not to mention that the "wide swaths" of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop also don't have most of the people. The wide swaths of the county that are near bus stops have most of the people.

I really can't tell if you're being serious here. Buses have a fixed capacity. What you seem to be describing-- moving 200,000 daily school bus rides onto a system currently providing 57,000 daily rises-- greatly exceeds the capacity. Besides that, the routes are not set up to efficiently carry people to schools.

Could you solve the capacity, coverage, and problems? Sure, but you'd basically have to recreate the MCPS bus routes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what? It’s good practice for high schoolers to be prepared for 8am classes in college or the workforce.

Exactly what I was thinking! I remember that 8am Chemistry class freshmen year.

I told my kids this would happen but they proved me wrong. Both my college kids have successfully avoided 8 am classes. As a matter of fact, even as freshman they worked their schedules to start classes much later.

Adults, including young adults, can manage 8am. Their body clocks have probably shifted. Growing HSers teens are still dealing with their teenage body clock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

The great thing about buses is that they can accommodate more riders.

Nobody is proposing that students should take public transit (RideOn, Metrobus, Metro rail, MARC train, Purple Line when it opens) where there isn't any.

Not to mention that the "wide swaths" of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop also don't have most of the people. The wide swaths of the county that are near bus stops have most of the people.

I really can't tell if you're being serious here. Buses have a fixed capacity. What you seem to be describing-- moving 200,000 daily school bus rides onto a system currently providing 57,000 daily rises-- greatly exceeds the capacity. Besides that, the routes are not set up to efficiently carry people to schools.

Could you solve the capacity, coverage, and problems? Sure, but you'd basically have to recreate the MCPS bus routes.

Kids are already taking public buses to and from school. Somehow they are able to do something you consider impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many decisions are made based on free transportation. Snow days, flooded roads, start times, end times. It’s ridiculous. We need to do away with school buses, boost the public buses and make decisions based on what’s best for our kids.

You want elementary school kids to get on RideOn buses alone?

Even if you limited it to HS, RideOn routes could never scale up to meet the demand before and after school.

In plenty of cities ES kids get in the bus. At the very least MS/HS kids get on the bus and train.

I have a hard time imagining my 6-year-old getting on a city bus. Actually no, I know exactly what would happen.

Regardless, let's say, as you seem to suggest, we keep buses for ES, and have MS/HS ride non-school public transportation.

How would that work? RideOn only carries 57,000 riders per day. MCPS reports 100,000 students ride the bus, typically twice per day. That's an extra 200,000 rides.

Now, obviously not all of those are middle/high school students, but you're still looking at increasing rides per day by 3-4x.

Worse, those rides obviously aren't spread throughout the day or throughout the system. Most of the riders would be going to a handful of places. But they'd need to get picked up from wider range of bus stops than currently exist. So many, many more buses would be needed. For only on some routes that pass schools, and only for a couple hours each day.

In an area of higher density housing, workplaces, and transit, this could be workable. You would expect a higher percentage of walkers. And higher-capacity rail service carrying some of the burden. But this wouldn't work in a place like MoCo.

I don't think you're familiar with how RideOn and Metrobus work in Montgomery County. You go to a bus stop, you get on the bus, you take the bus until you get to your stop, then you get off. And many of the routes have different frequencies, depending on time of day.

I don't think you understand the massive increase in resources that would be necessary to accommodate potentially 200,000 more rides each day. And high schools and middle schools aren't transit hubs in the current county bus routes.

And what about the wide swaths of the county that aren't anywhere near a bus stop?

You make this statement like increasing ridership and transit routes/capabilities should not be a key priority for a county that wants to grow and keeps building dense housing. For that matter a county that has Sustainability goals.

Except adults wouldn't be going to the same place as kids, so those new buses would take awfully circuitous routes.

Why? Most of the high schools, right now, are served by existing routes. Kids could take existing buses, on existing routes, to and from school. Which kids are actually currently doing, right now. Even middle-school kids.

You can't be serious. Do you have idea how many school buses serve each high school compared to the number of RideOn buses that stop near the high school within 30 minutes of start time?

Do you think buses are magical vehicles with unlimited capacity? And what about all the kids that to those schools that don't happen to be served by the bus route that goes to the school? You think there's enough capacity at transfer points and routes?

You're either trolling or you haven't thought this through. I'm not sure which.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused by the conversation. I haven't followed this round, but the same issue was prominent a few years ago, and the solution was to flip the ES and HS start times (for bus logistics).

Two birds. HSers get more reasonable start times, and ES parents get their kids off at a time that allows them to get to work at a normal time. Granted, the latter issue seems less problematic now that a lot people tend to have more flexible work schedules. But there's still a huge number of people who really struggle because ES starts 30 minutes after they should be at work.