Metro Bus HORRORS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most jurisdictions have school buses, but DC lets students ride Metro for free so they don't have to bother with dedicated school buses. But then they don't put resources into buses along those school routes because they don't generate much revenue. The city can still say, though, that kids technically have a way to get to school using public transportation -- just not a reliable way.

Not everyone has the means or schedules to drive their kids to school and by the time you get to middle school and high school, inbound schools often aren't in walking distance. And as a public policy, we should encourage public transportation over more cars on the road.

JR at least excused tardies last year because the bus from Mount Pleasant was a frequent no show, with the WMATA app saying routes were cancelled because there weren't enough drivers. And for lots of families, the big, beautiful bus reform seems to have made things worse.

It's not about revenue. Bus doesn't generate much revenue anywhere.

They have to think about how to best serve the entire region under considerable resource constraints. Bespoke routes just for the schools in the wealthiest ward are generally not going to be the way to do that.

If the city expects students to use public transportation to get to school, shouldn’t the city provide that transportation?

I think the way school choice plays out in this city makes this a particularly complex problem. How do you serve students with transportation options equally (much less equitably) given the fact that only 28% of public and public charter school students attend their in-boundary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most jurisdictions have school buses, but DC lets students ride Metro for free so they don't have to bother with dedicated school buses. But then they don't put resources into buses along those school routes because they don't generate much revenue. The city can still say, though, that kids technically have a way to get to school using public transportation -- just not a reliable way.

Not everyone has the means or schedules to drive their kids to school and by the time you get to middle school and high school, inbound schools often aren't in walking distance. And as a public policy, we should encourage public transportation over more cars on the road.

JR at least excused tardies last year because the bus from Mount Pleasant was a frequent no show, with the WMATA app saying routes were cancelled because there weren't enough drivers. And for lots of families, the big, beautiful bus reform seems to have made things worse.

It's not about revenue. Bus doesn't generate much revenue anywhere.

They have to think about how to best serve the entire region under considerable resource constraints. Bespoke routes just for the schools in the wealthiest ward are generally not going to be the way to do that.

If the city expects students to use public transportation to get to school, shouldn’t the city provide that transportation?

I think the way school choice plays out in this city makes this a particularly complex problem. How do you serve students with transportation options equally (much less equitably) given the fact that only 28% of public and public charter school students attend their in-boundary school?

Well, at a bare minimum, students should be able to get to their by-right school without needing a car.

And not providing public transit access to out-of-bounds schools in effect limits access to high performing for those who can’t afford to live in the neighborhood or travel there by car.

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure the D94 runs only every 20-30 min. Not every 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most jurisdictions have school buses, but DC lets students ride Metro for free so they don't have to bother with dedicated school buses. But then they don't put resources into buses along those school routes because they don't generate much revenue. The city can still say, though, that kids technically have a way to get to school using public transportation -- just not a reliable way.

Not everyone has the means or schedules to drive their kids to school and by the time you get to middle school and high school, inbound schools often aren't in walking distance. And as a public policy, we should encourage public transportation over more cars on the road.

JR at least excused tardies last year because the bus from Mount Pleasant was a frequent no show, with the WMATA app saying routes were cancelled because there weren't enough drivers. And for lots of families, the big, beautiful bus reform seems to have made things worse.

It's not about revenue. Bus doesn't generate much revenue anywhere.

They have to think about how to best serve the entire region under considerable resource constraints. Bespoke routes just for the schools in the wealthiest ward are generally not going to be the way to do that.

If the city expects students to use public transportation to get to school, shouldn’t the city provide that transportation?

I think the way school choice plays out in this city makes this a particularly complex problem. How do you serve students with transportation options equally (much less equitably) given the fact that only 28% of public and public charter school students attend their in-boundary school?

Well, at a bare minimum, students should be able to get to their by-right school without needing a car.

And not providing public transit access to out-of-bounds schools in effect limits access to high performing for those who can’t afford to live in the neighborhood or travel there by car.

So the lack of adequate service to W3 schools actually affects OB students at those schools the most?

Huh.

[Anonymous]

In addition to WMATA and your councilmember, find your ANC rep as an advocate, and definitely get other parents to raise their voices.

In these weeks with armed National Guard and masked ICE agents roaming DC, having clusters of teenagers milling about is a recipe for a problem. Even well-behaved kids waiting for the bus.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Most jurisdictions have school buses, but DC lets students ride Metro for free so they don't have to bother with dedicated school buses. But then they don't put resources into buses along those school routes because they don't generate much revenue. The city can still say, though, that kids technically have a way to get to school using public transportation -- just not a reliable way.

Not everyone has the means or schedules to drive their kids to school and by the time you get to middle school and high school, inbound schools often aren't in walking distance. And as a public policy, we should encourage public transportation over more cars on the road.

JR at least excused tardies last year because the bus from Mount Pleasant was a frequent no show, with the WMATA app saying routes were cancelled because there weren't enough drivers. And for lots of families, the big, beautiful bus reform seems to have made things worse.

[/quote]

It's not about revenue. Bus doesn't generate much revenue anywhere.

They have to think about how to best serve the entire region under considerable resource constraints. Bespoke routes just for the schools in the wealthiest ward are generally not going to be the way to do that.[/quote]

This is DC bureaucracy at its finest. If you ask DCPS about transportation, they hand you a
Metro card and say its WMATA's responsibility. But WMATA says transportation for kids isn't their priority.
This kind of thinking makes the city dysfunctional. I hope you enjoy the federal takeover!
[/quote]

Oh, yes, the federal government will do a much better job magically funding more bus drivers and buses to run the service you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This also happened to our MacArthur freshman waiting at the D94 stop by Dupont Circle in the morning. Three full buses passed the waiting Ellington, Hardy and MacArthur students. 40 minute wait (plus the travel to Dupont and travel on the D94) for a 14 year old trying to navigate the city. Not a HORROR, but not great, DC.

The old bus (D2?) started at Dupont Circle so everyone could get on. Now kids get on whereever the D94 starts and it is full by the time it gets to Dupont. Could have been anticipated by bus route planners, one would think.

We need the D94 bus to run more than every 10 minutes during student rush hours if it is full. We also need more bus routes to MacArthur, or a dedicated line from either Dupont or Foggy Bottom. I would have advocated for this anyway but now that I have been to the school and seen the very small parking lot, it is insane to think that the current transportation options are workable.

I wonder if our children have met 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In addition to WMATA and your councilmember, find your ANC rep as an advocate, and definitely get other parents to raise their voices.

In these weeks with armed National Guard and masked ICE agents roaming DC, having clusters of teenagers milling about is a recipe for a problem. Even well-behaved kids waiting for the bus.

This is what I fear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This also happened to our MacArthur freshman waiting at the D94 stop by Dupont Circle in the morning. Three full buses passed the waiting Ellington, Hardy and MacArthur students. 40 minute wait (plus the travel to Dupont and travel on the D94) for a 14 year old trying to navigate the city. Not a HORROR, but not great, DC.

The old bus (D2?) started at Dupont Circle so everyone could get on. Now kids get on whereever the D94 starts and it is full by the time it gets to Dupont. Could have been anticipated by bus route planners, one would think.

We need the D94 bus to run more than every 10 minutes during student rush hours if it is full. We also need more bus routes to MacArthur, or a dedicated line from either Dupont or Foggy Bottom. I would have advocated for this anyway but now that I have been to the school and seen the very small parking lot, it is insane to think that the current transportation options are workable.

I wonder

if our children have met 😂

I agree that WMATA has to do a better job of providing capacity in the morning to help kids getting to school. We're seeing similar issues with the C81 which replaced the M4 and E4 which takes kids along Military and Nebraska Avenue to Deal MS and JR HS. Today the bus was delayed by 20 minutes, apparently just sitting at one stop without moving. No info was shared with the passengers.

[Anonymous]

Please Keep the discussion going we need more buses and there are many weird guys in the buses vouchers and homeless guys very scary. Tell your kids pay attention to their surroundings when they are on the bus and do not use the cell phone too much during the rides

[Anonymous]

I can’t think of a single council member who would care despite this being a very worthy cause.

[Anonymous]

Transportation is 90% of the reason we are thinking of moving out of zone for MacArthur and into JR zone. It’s infuriating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please Keep the discussion going we need more buses and there are many weird guys in the buses vouchers and homeless guys very scary. Tell your kids pay attention to their surroundings when they are on the bus and do not use the cell phone too much during the rides

Absolutely. We have no choice but to have DCs ride metrobus, but the crap I have seen and dealt with on the bus even in the middle of the day makes me anxious. My tweens aren’t equipped to keep themselves safe navigating public transport in a city on public transit. And they shouldn’t be expected to.

[Anonymous]

Start writing to every person in the WMATA chain of command and also to your ANC rep. and DCPS leadership. It's not acceptable and that route needs to add more buses at the end of the day to accommodate the students, especially since it's a very residential neighborhood with no other transport options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This also happened to our MacArthur freshman waiting at the D94 stop by Dupont Circle in the morning. Three full buses passed the waiting Ellington, Hardy and MacArthur students. 40 minute wait (plus the travel to Dupont and travel on the D94) for a 14 year old trying to navigate the city. Not a HORROR, but not great, DC.

The old bus (D2?) started at Dupont Circle so everyone could get on. Now kids get on whereever the D94 starts and it is full by the time it gets to Dupont. Could have been anticipated by bus route planners, one would think.

We need the D94 bus to run more than every 10 minutes during student rush hours if it is full. We also need more bus routes to MacArthur, or a dedicated line from either Dupont or Foggy Bottom. I would have advocated for this anyway but now that I have been to the school and seen the very small parking lot, it is insane to think that the current transportation options are workable.

I wonder

if our children have met 😂

I agree that WMATA has to do a better job of providing capacity in the morning to help kids getting to school. We're seeing similar issues with the C81 which replaced the M4 and E4 which takes kids along Military and Nebraska Avenue to Deal MS and JR HS. Today the bus was delayed by 20 minutes, apparently just sitting at one stop without moving. No info was shared with the passengers.

Right! My son was waiting forever and was almost late