Some students are riding buses for 2 hours, CMS says. Will new ‘express’ service help?

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will roll out an express bus service for the 2023-24 school year that will cut down on ride times and early morning pick-ups.

CMS Express Stops will increase access and improve the experience for about 5,200 students enrolled in full and partial magnet high schools, officials said Friday morning. Those students will have to go 2 to 3 miles from their home to catch a bus, but that bus will go straight to school without making other stops.

“So many of our magnet students are riding the bus for one to two hours each morning and afternoon,” said Adam Johnson, CMS’ executive director of transportation. “This coupled with the budget alignment, and ongoing staffing shortages created a need for a new way to provide transportation for our magnet students.”

Express Stops won’t impact students who attend their home magnet or non-magnet schools, and Johnson told The Charlotte Observer the new service can be carried out without needing additional buses.

“The biggest expense for our department is countywide magnet programs as they run the most miles daily/annually,” Johnson said. He said the district narrowed it down to high school magnet programs and a pair of middle school magnet programs so that the remaining middle school and no elementary school programs were impacted.

How it started

Johnson said CMS’ transportation operating budget was reduced by about $3.2 million in 2021, so he was forced to make cuts in miles traveled and hours worked, among others.

He said modifying magnet transportation allows the district to increase its service while reducing student ride time. It will increase access with minimal impacts to families and drivers, he said.

Tracy Jackson has been a bus driver for the district for 27 years. She starts her day at 3:30 a.m., and arrives at work at 4:15 for her morning trip. While she gets time during the middle of the day — between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. — to eat, she has to begin her afternoon route at 1:30 p.m. Her day ends at 5:30 p.m., according to a chart of her journey CMS provided.

Jackson works 9.5 hours a day and 1,662 hours a school year. She logs 200 miles daily.

On her new Express Stop route next year, Jackson will be able to start her shift at 5:51 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. She’ll work eight hours a day and 1,400 hours a school year. She’ll log 125 miles daily.

Johnson said his department took several factors into consideration when modifying transportation services, including efficiency, traffic and speed limits.

Express Stops will affect the following schools:

▪ Central Piedmont Community College - Central Campus

▪ East Mecklenburg High School

▪ EE Waddell

▪ Harding IB & Berry Technical Academy

▪ Hawthorne & Military Global Leadership

▪ North Mecklenburg High School

▪ Northwest School of the Arts

▪ PACE - district-wide program

▪ Secondary Montessori at JT Williams

▪ South Mecklenburg High School

▪ UNC Charlotte - Central Campus

By the numbers

This year, 111,877 or 78.2% of the district’s students are using CMS’ transportation services to go to and/or from school, and there are more than 4,800 bus runs daily.

CMS Express Stops is designed to give magnet students a faster and easier trip to and from school. Here’s what that looks like:

▪ 2,000 fewer students next school year will be picked up between 4:58 a.m. and 6 a.m.

▪ 1.33 million, or 6.67%, fewer miles per year by adjusting to Express Stops

▪ 96.5% of students arriving on time in the morning

▪ 95% of students arriving on time in the afternoon

▪ 30 minutes or less, ride time for students on Express Stops

▪ Zero new dollars to run the express program