Letter to the Editor: Former Ludington bus driver supports bond, reduction in busing times.

Letter to the Editor: Former Ludington bus driver supports bond, reduction in busing times.

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Dear Editor:

I am writing this as a person that supports the LASD bond proposal. I have read many comments on social media regarding transportation costs because of the location of the new school.  I will say that I have not checked the actual distance from the current middle/high school complex to the proposed new K-5 complex, but this is what I do know. As a past bus driver that drove every day, this is what happens daily: The bus driver in the morning drives the route and picks up students, once the bus route is complete, then proceeds to the bus turn around at the middle/high school complex, dropping off middle/high school students at approximately 7:35 a.m. Then it’s off to Franklin to drop off students, while battling lots of traffic, in some cases, this takes up to 10 minutes depending on the day. Once the students are off the bus, it’s off to Lakeview, once again battling traffic and then dropping off students.  Then we are off to Foster, yes, once again battling traffic, we then drop our last students off and head back to the bus garage. In the afternoon we reverse this procedure, and it looks like this.

At 2:45 p.m. we head to the middle/high school complex turn around to load the students from the middle/high school.  They start to get on the bus at 2:50 and we depart at 3 p.m. We then scatter a bit, but what happens is we pick up some students at Franklin, some at Lakeview, then we all meet up at Foster.  

At each school, we typically wait 15 minutes for the loading process.  In all, it means the first students on the bus are on it for approximately 30-40 minutes before heading towards home.  Depending on the time of year it could be very cold on the bus or extremely hot either way, not ideal for the students.

I have heard how much more it will cost for transportation, well, when you add up the expense from the morning and afternoon combined, considering every driver and every bus, each and every day the schools are open, that cost currently (without having exact numbers), I would estimate to be an additional $60,000 per year, each and every year.  A new school will allow for two drops off and pick up points, thus saving time, money, and making the bus travel a more enjoyable experience for our students, not to mention much safer. When the millage passes and the new school is built, I wonder how much of a savings it will be, not how much more of an expense.

Tyrone Collins

Ludington