Why do you (or did you) drive your kids to school instead of using the bus?

[laurajetter]

This is just to satisfy my curiosity, no judgement involved! Going to school growing up, I rode the school bus and was dropped off or picked up only on occasion for special circumstances… I just assumed that was the case for everyone else, too. After having kids, every once in a while the need arose for me to drop them off or pick them up and I was always surprised that there were so many other parents doing the same. I didn’t realize that this many people did it more as a preference than an occasional necessity… I guess I just assumed most parents would want to take advantage of the free transportation and that it would be easier than worrying about driving them every day. These were my observations for elementary school and middle school, I don’t have as much experience dropping off/picking up in high school.

So if you drove your kids, what were your reasons? Safety issues? Social issues? Just an opportunity to spend more time with them?

(Again no judgement, now that I’m in a different place career-wise, I now drive my middle schooler most days. My reasons are he really just doesn’t like riding the bus, and I’ve grown to appreciate that extra time with him… I’m just curious about everyone else!)

 

[Turn the Page]

I drive the kids as a general rule. There are a few different reasons.

We technically live out of district. I could have them ride the bus to their school but the bus wouldn't come to the house since we don't live in the district so I would have to drive them to a bus stop for the district they attend. Because the district lines are wonky I actually have to drive them further away from their school to get a bus. I always just through if I have to get them up, bundle everybody in the car, and drive them anyway I may as well just drive them to school especially since if I drive them they can sleep n a bit longer and also, DH's uncle was a bus driver for that district for decades, though not on that route, but he told us to absolutely not let our kids ride that bus because the kids on that route are hoodlums.

I now have one in the high school, one in the middle school, and one in an elementary school. The teenager has her own car so she drives herself. The bus staging area is the middle school so I drop the younger two off at the middle school and DS5 takes the bus from the middle school to his elementary school and back each day. Fighting school traffic at 2 different schools each day sounds like a nightmare.

My Dad lives on the bus route and the kids will ride the bus to and from his house if they have spent the night or when I start work they will ride the bus there after school a couple days a week and I will pick them up there.

 

[mickey916]

I drove and picked up mine in elementary school mostly because we live so far that it was an hour each way for them with all the stops but I could get them to and from in 20 minutes each way. In middle school and high school they took the morning bus if they made it on time and I picked up due to afternoon sports and activities.We live very close to the upper schools so it was easy to go grab them.

 

[sponica]

My elementary schooler takes the bus, but once she's in middle school, I'll probably drive her. Mainly because the bus comes at 6:30 and school doesn't start until 7:25. And the middle schoolers take the same bus as the high schoolers.

I would guess that most people here who drive kids in the elementary school do it because the timing of the bus is just too late but the car line you can get out earlier.

 

[china mom]

DD gets a ride to school in the morning because her start time is 7:25 and my start time is 7:30 and I work two minutes up the road from her school. She rides the bus home. It saves her a quarter mile walk and having to leave the house at 6:50.

She takes the bus home.

When my foot was in a cast, she would drive me to work (learners permit) then walk to school from my job and then reverse it on the way back.

Prior to that, both kids rode the bus both ways except for special circumstances. Their old bus ride (before we moved) used to be an hour and they actually liked riding the bus.

 

[mmbrad02]

I took my child to school K-5th because it was on my way to work each morning, drop off at her small elementary was super fast, and it saved her from having to get on the bus super early every morning. It was truly easier on me not to rise as early as needed for bus pick up.

Now that she is in middle school, my DH takes her each morning because it's now on his way to work and this is the routine we are used to. And, the bus pick up is still super early.

She does ride the bus home each day though because we both work and pick up is not an option. And she truly loves her bus social time too

 

[E&Cmom]

Mine walk/walked. Both the elementary and high school are within walking distance.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Our schools have ranged from 5-15 minutes from home, but they would be on the bus (or waiting at school for the bus) for at least 60+ minutes each direction, and that's if the bus even comes that day ... we have severe bus driver shortage and hear about people daily receiving notice that there won't be an afternoon bus for their kids. Also hear about kids that get home nearly 2 hours after school dismisses from time to time. Often we pick up from school and have an appointment or after school activity to get to - if we waited on the bus we'd be late. Plus there are noise / crowds/ bullying issues with the buses. It just works better for us, and we both have the flexibility in our jobs that we can do that.

 

[JaxDad]

My daughter goes to a magnet high school. The district provides a bus system for the magnets, which is basically hub and spoke. She would have to catch one bus at an early hour and inconvenient location, then transfer to another. It would be the reverse in the afternoon.

Instead, she usually rides with a neighborhood friend. The friend participates in multiple sports, so I often need to give my daughter a ride home. I definitely appreciate that little extra time with her. She’ll be driving herself soon, but we may largely stick to the current plan, depending on vehicle availability.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Different reasons in different years. In elementary, he rode the bus unless I was subbing at his school, in which case, I drove him and a neighbor girl.

In middle school, there was a kid on the bus he preferred to avoid whenever I was able to drive him. Plus once a week, we stopped at Dunkin's, so that was a quality time thing.

By high school, dropping him off was on my way to work, and gave him a few more minutes of sleep in the morning.

 

[MGMmjl]

My wife drives our son to school in the morning. She enjoys the extra time talking with him in the car on the way to school. And the school is only about 5 miles away, so it's not a far drive. The main reason is he would have to be outside waiting for the bus at 6:15-6:30 am, while they can leave shortly after 7 am to drive to school. He does take the bus home in the afternoon. We don't want to deal with the long pick-up line then.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Our 3 granddaughters have to be driven to school because the school district won’t pick them up since there is no where for the bus to turn around and it’s too far out of their way to drive.

 

[soccerdad72]

Elementary / middle school - there was no bussing to our area from the school (private school).

High school - Catholic school. Bussing option was not ideal. They would have to take the early morning HS bus and get a second bus from there. It would take them about an hour for a 20 minutes drive.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Both husband and I worked full time. They went to daycare before and after program.
We actually lived to close so wouldn't have qualified for school bus - it's just over a mile. So would drop them off on the way to school at like 7:15/7:30 when school started at 9.

Can't leave a 6 year at home alone to get to school here - it's against the law.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Because the bus picks up at 6 am even though school starts at 7:30 am and is like a 15 min drive away.

 

[mjkacmom]

We don’t have any buses, my town is 3.4 square miles, with 5 elementary schools situated so no one has more than a 1/2 mile walk, and the middle and high schools are in the center of town, the farthest homes are under 2 miles. I would walk my elementary students to and from school until they were in 2nd grade, then they’d walk themselves. Occasionally I’d drive the .6 miles (.4 if walking) but walking was much faster than the one way very narrow lane to get to the building (built before most had cars). Most walked to middle and high school until friends started getting licenses (but zero parking for students so driving took longer than walking with gridlock and far on street parking). One of my kids conned me into a middle school carpool, it literally took me 1/2 hour to get a bunch of girls 1 mile to school (they all lived further out).

 

[barkley]

up until 9th grade both of mine attended private schools and there were no bussing options UNTIL i discovered a law on the books in the state we had moved to that said if a public school bus passed a private school and it would'nt entail diverting from the regular route a private school student could be transported for a reasonable fee with the agreement of the public school district. well, the bus passed right by my kid's school so i worked out a deal with the district (i want to say they charged us a couple hundred per year). the only time we had to drive after that was when the public was off but the private was not OR if the public called a snow day (which the private NEVER did but in many cases the road conditions-very rural-were so horrific we would inform the private that the kids would be absent due to road safety concerns).

 

[Ronaldo17]

School bus

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

up until 9th grade both of mine attended private schools and there were no bussing options UNTIL i discovered a law on the books in the state we had moved to that said if a public school bus passed a private school and it would'nt entail diverting from the regular route a private school student could be transported for a reasonable fee with the agreement of the public school district. well, the bus passed right by my kid's school so i worked out a deal with the district (i want to say they charged us a couple hundred per year). the only time we had to drive after that was when the public was off but the private was not OR if the public called a snow day (which the private NEVER did but in many cases the road conditions-very rural-were so horrific we would inform the private that the kids would be absent due to road safety concerns).

Love that you did this

 

[EACarlson]

There are almost no busses in my school district, one per elementary school is all I've seen. If you're within a certain distance there is no bus option. I'd either have to have my 10 and 7 year olds walk the 3/4 mile or drive them. We drive them because our kids are not morning people, they'd never make it to school on time.