BUSD families still adjusting to school bus stop removals and route changes

"The district announced in late July that it had consolidated its routes to improve safety, increase efficiency, reduce student ride times, address an ongoing shortage of school bus drivers, and optimize resources. This included the removal of all bus stops on Grizzly Peak Boulevard, which the district attributed to safety concerns. A California Highway Patrol (CHP) spokesperson also told Berkeleyside in August that BUSD's decision to remove the stops was due to (the school district's) own safety concerns after multiple crashes."

"With Berkeley Unified families still adjusting to school bus consolidations a month into the new academic year, district records obtained by a parent and shared with Berkeleyside provide more detail on the route changes and service reductions. BUSD did not specify in its July message to community members which locations would be impacted. Families were advised to check StopFinder, a school bus locator app used by BUSD, for notifications about their child's assigned stop location and ride times."

"This included about 30 families in the Berkeley Hills impacted by bus stop removals on Grizzly Peak Boulevard, who said the alternative stops offered by the district are too far away from their homes to be useful. One of the Berkeley Hills parents, through a public records request, subsequently received two lists of BUSD bus stops comparing the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years and shared them with Berkeleyside."

Berkeley Unified consolidated its school bus routes in late July to improve safety, increase efficiency, reduce student ride times, address a shortage of drivers, and optimize resources. The consolidation removed all stops on Grizzly Peak Boulevard due to safety concerns and multiple crashes noted by the California Highway Patrol. Families were not given specific affected locations in the July notice and were directed to StopFinder for assigned stop and ride-time notifications. The changes forced some families to scramble for alternative transportation when school resumed, including about 30 Berkeley Hills households whose new stops are too distant. A parent obtained comparative stop lists; BUSD declined to share the documents publicly citing privacy.

Read at www.berkeleyside.org