CINCINNATI — For years, students and parents within Cincinnati Public Schools have been dealing with transportation issues. Many said they felt this year was better — until busing once again became a nightmare.
Colin Braden, 14, goes to the Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students in Walnut Hills. He said his bus has been running consistently late in the afternoon recently.
"The problem with it being late is in the afternoon, I get off around 3:45 p.m., however, my bus often doesn't show up until 4:15 p.m. or later,” he said.
When his bus doesn't show, Braden's mom, Dawn Mathias, must go pick him up to get him to soccer on time.
"Our field that we practice at is over a half hour away," he said. "If I don't get picked up, or she isn't able to, I am just completely unable to go to practice and it interferes with my overall training and experience with the club."
Mathias said thankfully her work is flexible and she's able to pick him up when needed but "not everybody else has that."
"People are dependent on this bus system," Mathias said. "There are people who work third shift jobs who can't get their kids to school, then what happens? The kid misses school."
Ryan Shearer, a teacher at the Academy of World Languages, said buses have been hours late or not showing up at all.
"I keep hearing transportation has gotten better this year and I can't speak for the Metro buses, but in terms of the yellow buses — at least to finish the year — it seems like it’s fallen apart worse than it's ever been," Shearer said.
He said they get calls from parents every day wanting to know what's happening with their child's bus.
"I mean, there's a lot of frustration," Shearer said. "A lot of parents work full time, they don't have time to bring their kids to school."
He said it's also impacting the staff and keeps them past their normal working hours when buses don’t show up in the afternoon.
"Those kids have to be in the gym, being monitored until parents can come get them which sometimes is lasting until 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m.," Shearer said.
Parents and teachers said the district must do something to fix the issue.
"We definitely can't have this throughout the entire school year where kids are just simply not coming because their buses are not showing up," Shearer said.
WCPO reached out to the district about these concerns. CPS provided the following statement:
“Cincinnati Public Schools is aware of staffing issues with vendor Universal Transportation Systems (UTS), causing delays to some routes. The District continues to meet with UTS to address this issue, while moving routes to other bus vendors. CPS is utilizing the District's microbuses, drivers from other vendors and van vendors to ensure each route is covered, while recognizing that some may experience delays. The District recognizes this disruption and will continue to work with bus contractors and schools to minimize challenges for families.”
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