How much time is reasonable to be sitting on the bus?

amother

Saddlebrown

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 7:12 pm

I'm wondering if I have a right to complain, or if the driver is being reasonable. DD is 3 years old. The school is a 15 minute drive away. That's with zero traffic - and we do live in a busy area were I can expect traffic during pickup and drop off times.
About how much time to you think is reasonable for her to sit on the bus?

mummiedearest

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 7:19 pm

your child is on a bus, which means there are other stops. unless she is the last pickup, I would guess 45 minutes. that's the way it always works, in my experience. it stinks, but that's life.

amother

Saddlebrown

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 7:36 pm

Thanks. One way is about 45 minutes. The other way is an hour and ten minutes - do you think I have a right to complain about that?

Mama Bear

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 7:46 pm

an hour and ten minutes is a lot. I wouldnt say 'complain' about it, but can you call the transp dept in her preschool and see if they can reroute it somehow?

MitzadSheini

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 7:50 pm

Personally I think this is way too long. It's 2 hours a day. 2 hours of not running around, not learning... And she is 3? if you can try and change this. It could lead to A LOT of other issues.

momX4

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 8:03 pm

I googled it. According to NY your child can be on the bus a "reasonable amount". They dont say how much, but they agree that 90 minute bus ride is excessive.

Since you are talking about a 3 year old I will assume its private transportation. Call the person in charge of the bus and ask if he can do anything about it.

My own kids sit on the bus 1 hout each way. When they were younger I tried to change it, to no avail.

cnc

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 8:19 pm

My son's bus route is about 45-50 minutes in total. I think that more than that is excessive.

Mama Bear

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 8:36 pm

My son goes to school a 10 minute ride away. But he gets picked up an hour before school starts. I don't mind that much, it's just that he doesn't really behave on the way... (Okay, he's 8, not 3.)

amother

Plum

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 8:53 pm

That's city life, we live in Monsey, an hour or so is the norm in the last few years. The traffic is horrible and people live very spread out.

tulips12

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 9:10 pm

The solution is usually to add another bus and shorten all the routes. The schools don't always want to do this because of the money for the bus, gas and another driver. Preschool is usually a small amount of kids but in elementary the bus routes tend to be shorter because so many more kids are picked up that the school can send a separate bus to each neighborhood.

gold21

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 9:29 pm

I didn't even realize that 3 year olds ride busses!

Is there no way to arrange a carpool?

That's sooo young to be sitting on a bus at all, let alone for over an hour! That length of time is so not okay.

amother

Lawngreen

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 9:39 pm

Im assuming the bus rout was created in a way that from the start of the route till the end it's the shortest possible time. It's like when I send my husband to the supermarket. There are 10 aisles. The reason it takes him so long is because the list is not geographically efficient. First he starts in aisle 1 then he goes to 5 then 3 then back to 5 then back to 1....you get the point. I'm assuming the bus route is not this way. Therefore, the ONLY way to shorten the route is, as someone above suggested, to add another bus.

gp2.0

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 9:48 pm

I estimated an hour before I saw your reply. It seems reasonable to me. The unpleasant reality of driving through traffic.

MitzadSheini

Mon, Sep 05 2016, 10:00 pm

I'm speaking in general terms op and not specifically about your child and I don't want to scare you.

But really- there seems to be something wrong with this whole system. If you have a 3 yo sitting on a bus for 2 hours a day they are not getting enough exercise. So then they will get figety and you'll end up getting them ot and stuff for that, using up more if your time, making you more stressed . Better b to find an extra bus to shorten the route or carpool or find a place you can walk to. Be proactive if you can. Much easier.

flowerpower

Tue, Sep 06 2016, 12:11 am

45 minutes should be the max. If its an hour some days it's because of added traffic. If it's exceeding an hour then ask the school to change her stop to earlier/ later in the route.

Mama Bear

Tue, Sep 06 2016, 12:32 am

I'm concerned about such a young child needing to use the bathroom on the way home and having to hold it in for 1+ hours... it's a lot.

busymom

Tue, Sep 06 2016, 7:36 pm

I agree an hour should be max. I would also tell the teacher to make sure the child uses the bathroom within an hour before the bus ride. (Hopefully they know to take the entire class again at the end of the day if many kids will be having a long ride home.)