Published Dec. 15, 2022
BY MINNA TROKEL
After weeks of overcrowding on Bus 10 heading to Carmel Valley through early November, where students would have to stand in the aisles, Carmel Unified School District has given Bus 5, which heads deeper into the valley to Cachagua, some of Bus 10’s stops to help disperse the students.
Sophomore Mason Hogan, who rides Bus 10, says that students had been crouching, standing or sitting in the aisles: “You’d often see three or four to a seat and kids lying down in the aisle.”
Despite busy buses being a staple of the district, the recent crowding issues are unique. Students attribute it to the end of the fall sports season, where fewer students are staying after school for sports and have to instead take the bus home.
The conditions on Bus 10 were quite uncomfortable until the district addressed the problems.
“The crowding makes it a lot more stressful, less enjoyable and less safe,” junior Natalie Blackwell says. “It causes a lot of issues because we are all so crowded, it’s so hot, and the ride takes so long.”
The urgency to create route changes for Bus 10 did not go unnoticed by the district, who took action after a particularly crowded ride Nov. 10.
“Kids were lying on top of each other in the back, so we pulled over at the middle school and let some kids get on our bus,” says sophomore Azucena Salinas Martinez, who rides Bus 5. Since that day, Bus 5 has joined Bus 10 in stopping nearby Tularcitos Elementary School at Pilot Road in Carmel Valley Village.
This was the first of many changes that the district would implement over the month of November.
Previously long lines to get onto Bus 10 have shrunk after route changes. (photo by MINNA TROKEL)
“The overcrowding issues should have already been resolved in late November,” CUSD transportation foreman Mason Duvall says.
The district has also worked to manage crowding on the buses by taking away both buses’ stops at the Carmel Middle School, which catered mostly to student athletes traveling to CMS for practices.
The Valley-bound buses have felt the added stress of student athletes for many years, and that stress has moved with the athletes onto the bus heading to Big Sur.
“The Big Sur bus is usually pretty packed, but most of the time we manage to find a seat,” says freshman soccer player Lauren Galicia, who takes the bus with her JV team to CMS for practices. “We have had to go three to four people to a seat.”
The addition of soccer players to the Big Sur bus has yet to pose a serious issue, but CUSD says it will continue to make changes if problems arise.
The main barrier for change is that some students have been reluctant to switch to the Cachagua bus, as some students previously prefer to stay with their friends in the more crowded bus. Regardless, the crowding has eased as students begin transitioning to Bus 5.
“I normally ride the Valley bus, but if it gets too crowded then I take the Cachagua bus instead,” explains sophomore Elizabeth Chan, who along with other students who ride Bus 10 is satisfied with the changes made.
Others want the district to do more.
“[The buses] just need rerouting,” Hogan says. “There doesn’t necessarily have to be a Pilot specific bus, but they should take the Pilot stop and give it to the bus with the least amount of people, and take it away from every other route.”
Most students agree that the best course of action would be to add more buses, but with recent hiring issues, the district says that will be hard. For now, students will continue to adjust to the new routes.
