Students cram Keyline buses; It's standing room only for kids riding to and from school

Students cram Keyline buses; It's standing room only for kids riding to and from school
By: Stacey Becker, The Dubuque Telegraph Herald (Sept. 15)

 It is not something that most people fear, yet two young sisters fear it five days per week.

 "I really don't feel safe," said 11-year-old Allison Haynes.

 Allison and her sister Crystal Haynes, 12, are afraid of their ride to and from school on a Keyline Transit bus.

 "Too many people are there "| you can't hold on the bars or anything," Crystal said. "I don't like it at all."

The sisters, who attend Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School, don't qualify to ride a yellow school bus because they live within a two-mile walking radius from school.

 The girls instead take advantage of free rides on a Keyline Transit bus. The bus, which doesn't deter from its normal route, is an extremely popular service among the students at Roosevelt.

 "The bus does get pretty crowded," said Dale Lass, principal at Roosevelt. "We've received concern from parents, and I certainly understand those concerns."

One parent that has called school and city officials numerous times is Dave Haynes. The Dubuque father said he constantly fears for the safety of his two daughters.

"It's not safe," Haynes said. "It's not like we're carrying packages of meat; these are the kids."

A few years ago, Keyline Transit buses started to transport students who don't qualify for a yellow school bus ride at numerous Dubuque schools.

The crowded situation at Roosevelt is not an isolated one. The bus at Senior High School is almost always filled with students at dismissal time.

"The bus is very, very full," said Kim Swift, principal at Senior. "On any given day, all the seats are taken and often the aisle is so crowded "| sometimes (the kids are) even going down the stairs."

Keyline Transit Manager Jon Rodocker said the city buses are different from yellow buses.

While the yellow bus can hold a maximum of 65 seated students, the Keyline Transit bus can hold as many as 77 students. There is enough seating room for 32 to 34 students.

"You can load that bus with as many public riders as can possibly get on," Rodocker said. "Public transit buses are designed for standees."

There are not any federal regulations that limit the maximum number of passengers a federal transit bus is allowed to carry at any time. Children are no exception.

"There aren't any federal regulations regarding children on a bus from the Federal Transit Administration's perspective," said Paul Griffo, spokesperson with the FTA.

The number of passengers on a Keyline Transit bus is determined by each individual driver.

Because it is a city bus, school officials don't have a lot of control over the buses.

"We have limited authority on those buses; however, we try to work with Keyline and have done so in the past," Lass said.  "We support the driver's authority."

The Dubuque City Council and the Dubuque Community School District have investigated the crowded situation.

"The Keyline buses at Senior and Roosevelt are very crowded. There's no question about that," said Kris Hall, the district's executive director of Equity Operations and School Services.

Both principals have asked for another Keyline Transit bus to be added at their schools.

"I'm glad that kids can ride Keyline free of charge," Swift said. "I just wish that there was some way to have an additional bus at release time."

Rodocker said that is impossible because he doesn't have enough buses to add more at schools during peak driving times.

"There's a lot more than saying 'Oh, I'll put another bus on your route tomorrow,'" Rodocker said. "We do the best we can."

Although the addition of more Keyline Transit buses is impossible, there may be some relief in sight for students at Senior.

Some of the yellow school buses at Senior shuttle students to Table Mound Elementary School. The students are then regrouped with other students in the district to ensure buses don't drive on the same route.

The Senior yellow buses drive along West Locust Street to Bluff Street on the way to Table Mound.

Vicki Kelly, district transportation manager, said it might be possible to transport students who live downtown on those yellow buses.

This possibility, however, is in the extreme preliminary stage.

"This is something we never explored before, but obviously the need is there," Hall said.

While officials search for a solution to the crowded Keyline Transit buses, Crystal and Allison Haynes continue to fear for their safety on the bus.

Their father said if things don't change for the better, he or his wife, Becky, will be forced to change their work schedules so they can drive their children to and from school.

"They just wish they were on a yellow bus," Dave Haynes said about his daughters.