School buses are crucial for transporting students to and from campus. The parents who rely on busing services should know that their children are safe while riding. A large problem in transportation occurs when there are bad conditions: traffic or even complete stoppage on roads presents challenges in coordinating school transportation. For example, last month on I-95 in Virginia, many drivers were stuck in standstill traffic due to poor conditions for over 24 hours, many without food and water. 

But such severe transportation slow-downs have also hit us much closer to home. In November 2018, an unexpected snow storm caused school buses all around New York and New Jersey to be stuck on roads for many hours. Ninth-grader Bowden Beal, who was in sixth grade at the time, had a unique experience with the situation. He recalled that “it was a frightening experience.” Beal had a brace on his injured leg, and it was even difficult to get to the bus because of all the snow. He recalls that he “almost fell a couple of times just walking to the bus.” All buses left Riverdale as scheduled that day at around 3:30-3:45 PM and were able to make it out of the Riverdale neighborhood easily. But as Beal’s bus got onto the West Side Highway in Manhattan, “there was so much traffic that there was zero movement on the road,” Beal said. Thankfully, he was able to get back home by 9:00 PM, but he remembers that many students were on the buses for over eight hours, getting home around midnight or even later on their commutes that typically took only 30 minutes. Senior Estelle Anderson, who was stuck on the bus for almost three hours, said, “that night was super stressful, for students and bus drivers alike. I hope that schools have changed their protocols since then to prepare for these kinds of unexpected situations.”

Mr. Tom Taylor, the Head of the Upper School, said that “if things come on suddenly, [Riverdale] has a close relationship with the bus company, SuperSelby, and are able to get them on the phone quickly.” Riverdale has formed a close enough relationship to get the buses to school as quickly as possible and to have students leave earlier than usual, which we experienced on Friday, February fourth this year when an approaching storm caused school to close early. 

In the absolute worst case scenario, the school has the supplies available, such as extra food and water, to keep everyone at school until conditions are safe enough for transportation. In regards to the snowstorm in 2018, Mr. Taylor thinks that “schools have learned lessons in terms of calling [bus companies] earlier and getting people home faster than they did on that day.” Mr. Taylor’s main concerns about busing are that “first, it is hard to find a place to store buses… and [second], nationally, there is a bus driver shortage.” Currently, running a bus company is a very difficult task because of these two issues, both of which are far out of Riverdale’s control.

Transportation is particularly significant to Riverdale because the majority of students live further than half-an-hour away from school, which makes it challenging for parents to independently find affordable and reliable transportation for their children each day. 

As a community, this needs to continue to be one of our main priorities, and the administration has done an excellent job of facilitating transportation options for Riverdale students.