Many students who attend Amador Valley High School use the Wheels Bus system as an effective transportation method. The bus system is an extremely useful method that many people depend on. Some have even used the system since their early school years.
“I started using the bus in sixth grade because my parents had stuff to do [and] just didn’t have time to pick me up,” said Sanvi Joshi (‘28).
Bus System Flaws
Although the bus system has helped so many students, there are also many flaws. Students are delayed if the bus is late. The bus system comes with an app, created to help predict and track the bus path and estimated arrival time. However, students with the app claim that in reality, it is unreliable and inaccurate.
“One time, it told me the bus was 5 minutes away from reaching the school when it was late after school, but I could see it pulling up,” says Ishanvi Khare (‘27).
Improvements with the app would benefit bus users immensely. Students also note the problem with overcrowding on the buses. The student-to-bus ratio can be problematic. As a result, kids have to wait even longer for the next bus to arrive.
“Usually, there will be one bus that comes after about 10 minutes, and then another bus will come a little later if all the students don’t fit on one bus. When the bus is late, you usually just wait, and if the bus gets too full, then they send another bus,” said Joshi.
Accessible to All
The Wheels Bus system has its fair share of flaws, but it is also extremely affordable for students. Students use a special card to pay on the bus. They only need to pay $1.60 using the card and $2.00 with cash. This affordable price is a big reason why so many kids use the bus as a convenient method of transportation.
“When I first started using it, I thought it would be like the movies where it’s really dirty, but honestly, it’s pretty clean unless it’s a rainy day,” said Khare.
Not only does the bus system help students, parents can trust the system to transport their children to school. They know this option will always be available to them when needed, and it is not only a safe option, but one that builds connections, too.
“It’s beneficial because it gives you an opportunity to interact with other people. You get to talk to your friends, and it also helps the environment because you’re carpooling. If you think about it, technically it’s a really big amount of people carpooling all together,” said Pareena Gupta (‘27).
