With the beginning of the school year right around the corner, Washoe County School District conducted its annual assessment of its bus routes, meaning changes in some local neighborhoods.
WCSD officials said the two main factors they consider in planning the routes are safety and efficiency. As the streets and neighborhoods change, those factors change as well, so every year they make adjustments. Sometimes those adjustments leave families who used to have bus coverage outside of the coverage area.
"If we find where a road has been closed or added, or a bike path or sidewalk and kids can walk, sometimes it changes the routing," WCSD Chief Logistics and Operations Officer Rick Harris said.
This year about 40 families who used to have bus service have been cut from the routes. Harris said this is due to changing factors in their neighborhoods, like improvements which made for safer walking.
Currently the district provides bus service if a student lives more than one mile from an elementary school, two miles from a middle school, or three miles from a high school.
While Harris agrees that those are long distances, he said the budget is tight.
"We only have so much funding for transportation," Harris said, "and with the budget cuts and everything, we have to run the buses as efficiently as possible."
If your family is affected by the route changes and you want to discuss your options or petition for reconsideration, you can call the WCSD transportation department at (775) 353-5900.
Written by Arianna Bennett
