Nearly every day at 2:25 p.m., just five minutes before students head to their afternoon bus, the school intercom chimes and the latest bus delay is announced like clockwork. As a regional school district, students’ distance to ARHS ranges depending on what part of town they live in, with transportation times ranging from a short walk to a 20-minute drive. This leads to a huge need for reliable transportation, which is so far not present.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, there is a severe school bus driver shortage not just in Massachusetts but around the country. This is due to a myriad of factors, and the authors point out how intense frugality and fractionated budgets led to a 21.8% employment decline nationwide from 2009 to 2019 for school bus drivers.

While the bus shortage problem is not as severe in the Northborough-Southborough school system as it is in other districts, it still is a major issue that impacts students throughout the community. 

Sophomore Emma Jones said that there were at least three or four times a month where her afternoon bus would arrive around an hour late. For her, the delays were definitely an inconvenience. 

“My mom would have to come to pick me up and I would have to do my homework outside, but I couldn’t go inside and go to a club because I’d be nervous that the bus would come early,” Jones said. “It was a hassle because I had to be right there. I think we need more people to [drive busses] so that the buses aren’t always late.” 

This sentiment was deeply felt by sophomore Zara Ali-Khan. While the morning buses were almost always consistent, she said that late buses differed.

“The late bus, especially for the Southborough buses, is always either late or sometimes they just don’t show up entirely and it’s never consistent,” Ali-Khan said. “I remember two weeks ago [the Southborough late bus] showed up at 3:50, and then the next week it showed up at 4:30. It’s quite a big difference and I got home at 5:30, which is really late considering that my after-school activity ended before 4.” 

According to Ali-Khan, there were no announcements or information given about cancellations or delays, making after-school clubs for her a “gamble”, especially considering the fact that both of her parents have full-time jobs and can’t pick her up.

If a late bus does get canceled, “I have to hope I can get a ride with a friend,” Ali-Khan said. “If not, then I have to wait for my mom to get out of work, which is mostly after 7 p.m.”

We are privileged to have a running late bus system, something that many schools don’t have because of the current busing instabilities. Still, the constant unreliability negates that privilege and ends up disincentivizing joining after-school organizations. 

Most of these issues often affect a certain subgroup of people the most. For those who are too young to drive and have parents working in person with a long commute, they have no option except to take the regular afternoon bus or to put their trust in the inconsistent late bus if they have an after-school commitment.  

A student’s ability to get home at a set time is incredibly important. Unfortunately, with the added complexity of serving two towns, Algonquin and the entire district has to balance the ever-changing bus policies and availability, sometimes making delays inevitable. There is no magic fix that can make all the buses throughout the day arrive on schedule, but more transparent communication about delays and cancellations will definitely go a long way in ensuring that students can make appropriate plans to get home safely and on time.