Task force has some ideas for fixing unsafe bus stops

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

The Fayette County Board of Education will consider a proposal from the Transportation Task Force to rethink locating neighborhood bus stops at subdivision entrances, especially when they open directly onto a "trunk route" or main arterial road.

The issue of subdivision bus stops was the top priority of the task force when it gathered Aug. 28 for its first meeting. The School Board met for a called meeting Tuesday to hear their progress.

On Wednesday, they'll meet for a second time to find solutions to the two remaining issues deemed most urgent: Elementary children walking too far to the bus stop or school, and children being forced to walk more than .5 miles.

Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information officer for the district, gave the update on action Tuesday regarding bus stop safety.

Bill Bonnett, director of transportation for the state Department of Education, answered committee members questions about what, exactly, constitutes a safe bus stop.

The state laws are simple and straightforward, Bonnett explained. Applied to most of Fayette County's bus stops, they meet the test.

Realizing that, the task force came up with four ideas for dealing with the issue:

·If it is a safe bus stop, make no change.

·Turn into subdivisions and make one stop, but explain to parents that this adds 5 minutes of route time for each stop.

· Encourage parents and guardians to take charge of the situation in their neighborhoods, rotating as bus stop monitors and working together to reduce traffic congestion.

·Form a committee to hear complaints and appeals of Transportation Department denials, being proactive and solving issues before they have to go to the board.

The 11 citizen members of the committee were handpicked after meeting an Aug. 25 application deadline. That was announced at an Aug. 18 board meeting attended by 250 angry parents.

Bonnett assured the task force that what Fayette County was experiencing was not unique or new.

"In every community that has lots of growth, we've seen this change take place and it always flies up in the district's face," he said. "As you build more schools closer to more houses, it's not going to make sense financially to bus children such short distances."

Bonnett ran the transportation department in Gwinnett County when it had less than 50,000 students, he said. Today, the state's largest district has nearly 130,000 students but the number of school buses on Gwinnett's roads hasn't grown proportionately.

That's because Gwinnett employs a number of techniques, including staggered start times, to get maximum use out of its buses.

Federal and state law mandates that "county" school systems provide transportation to anyone living 1.5 miles or more from a school, Bonnett confirmed. City school districts, however, are exempt.

"Believe me, you are in very good shape in Fayette County," he said, telling the task force that the average age of a school bus in Georgia is above 10 years, while Fayette's fleet averaged just slightly over 5 years old.

Bringing the point closer to the issues at hand, he illustrated for the panel why transportation funding is so crucial: Of the 181 buses Fayette owns, the state pays to operate barely half of them. County taxpayers make up the rest.

Task Force member Clarence Leathers wanted to know if additional funding sources, such as a local option sales tax on schools, could be used to finance the luxury bus service. School system finance director James Stephens said it could, as long as the issue was spelled out clearly on the ballot when voters went to the polls.

But he dismissed suggestions that those who want bus stops closer to home pay a user fee, while others may choose to go without. "We are charged by law of the state of Georgia to provide a free education to every child who wants it, and that includes bus service," he said.