ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
When Roanoke schools open next week, some students will find their bus stops have been changed - and they may have to walk farther to catch the bus.
They can blame it on a computer.
But there's a reason behind the changes: The extra steps will help city schools save up to $150,000 a year in transportation costs.
Roanoke will begin using a computerized system for bus routes, schedules and stops this school year.
The idea is to adjust bus routes and stops to where the students are concentrated in neighborhoods, said Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations.
With the computerized system, school officials can easily determine where all students live and the most efficient route for picking them up, Kelley said.
"In some areas where we've had two or three stops, we might have only one stop now," he said.
But Kelley said there will be no change in the standards used to evaluate the safety factors affecting the location of a bus stop.
"They'll continue to be in safe places even if they've been changed," he said.
In most cases, students will have to walk no farther than a quarter of a mile to reach a stop, Kelley said, but there are exceptions where it might be longer because of a dead-end street or the need to be sure a stop is at a safe place.
He didn't have an immediate count of the number of bus stops that have been changed or eliminated.
Kelley said the computerized system will also let the city direct buses for magnet schools and special education students more efficiently. The city provides special transportation daily for 1,775 students to magnet and special education classes.
"This will help us arrange routes where we have to pick up and transport children to schools that might not be close to where they live," he said.
Some children travel across the city to attend magnet schools. Some students from South Roanoke, for instance, are transported to William Fleming High for its magnet program.
The magnet and special education students are included among the 8,800 children who are transported daily by the school system's buses. A little more than 4,000 students drive or walk to school or are transported by parents.
The computerized bus system will be used initially this year for the routes that mainly serve middle schools, Kelley said. It will be expanded next year to include routes and stops for elementary and high schools.
Students and parents with questions about routes and stops can call their schools, which have copies of the schedules. All bus schedules with the stops were published in the Neighbors section of The Roanoke Times on Aug. 22.
Kelley said there will be additional personnel on duty to deal with bus problems when schools open.
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