When Wichita students ride these buses to school, they’re ‘always on time’

Hundreds more Wichita students are riding city buses to school this year, and district officials say they love the arrangement.

“These buses are always on time,” said Lisa Riveros, director of transportation for Wichita schools.

“I’ve gone out to some of the stops to wait with our students, and when the bus is supposed to be there at 7:06 a.m., it’s there at 7:06 a.m.,” she said. “Wichita Transit is really meeting our needs.”

School board members voted Monday, Oct. 22, to expand the district’s partnership with Wichita Transit, adding three routes to Northwest High School, one route to Heights High and shuttle service in the morning and afternoon to WSU Tech.

Earlier this year, the city established three routes to transport students to Southeast High School, at 127th Street East and Pawnee.

“Our partnership with (Wichita) Transit has been great, and we’ll continue to expand,” said Fabian Armendariz, chief of operations for the district.

“Transit has been a great partner in helping us identify needs and address . . . that driver shortage that we’ve had.”

The district will pay Wichita Transit up to $276,000 this year. The service is free for students, and their specially stamped student ID cards allow them to ride free on city buses after school or on weekends as well.

Stan Reeser, a school board member who also serves on the Wichita transit advisory board, said the partnership is an example of government agencies working together.

“What Transit needs is numbers — more people riding,” Reeser said. “So they had a problem, and we had a problem, and we just broke down some walls and worked together.”

He also praised a partnership between Grace Point Church and West High School, which allows some West High students to buy discounted bus passes for traveling to school and elsewhere. Last fall, the city and school district launched a similar program that lets some middle school and high school students buy discounted city bus passes.

For the past several years, Wichita has faced a critical shortage of school bus drivers — a situation that has resulted in more frequent delays, missed pickups, late drop-offs and other issues.

First Student, the Cincinnati-based private company that provides bus service for Wichita schools, has raised wages and offered signing bonuses to attract more people to the job. But several runs still are without permanent drivers, Armendariz said.

With the additional routes to Northwest, Heights and WSU Tech, nearly 400 Wichita high school students will be riding city buses to and from school.

Students like the free wi-fi on city buses and the ability to ride free to jobs or other destinations, Armendariz said. Parents appreciate the MyStop Mobile app, which tracks city buses in real time, and are raving about the service so far.

“Parent feedback has been very positive,” said Riveros. “There’s nothing better than getting a phone call to my office saying that the parent is pleased with the Wichita Transit service, specifically the timeliness of it. It’s there when it says it’s going to be there.”