By: Isabella Kennedy and Nibha Patil

   It’s a scene many people see daily. The bus makes a sharp turn, and the unlucky person sitting on the edge of a three seat loses their battle with gravity and tumbles onto the floor. Another one bites the dust. Every day after the bell rings at 2:35, hundreds of MRHS students rush down the stairs and out to the bus loop, with some boarding excessively overcrowded buses where being late means sitting on the floor. Others on different buses have their pick of almost every single seat in the vehicle. Why are some students’ buses so full when others are virtually empty?

   One thing that often affects the size of a bus is the route it takes. Some buses take longer routes, which can contribute to more people.

   “I have at least fifteen stops, and my route [takes] about thirty minutes,” shared sophomore Anna Rich-

es.

   These buses with long routes usually have more people, leading to overcrowding. However, not all buses have such long routes.

   “I live near Weis [and] my bus has two stops,” said freshman Zion Simmons.

   However, it can often depend on how crowded the buses are. For some students, the bus home in the afternoon is easier.

   “There’s more room on the way back since a lot of people have clubs,” claimed sophomore Ethan

Bino.

   This trend is similar across most of the buses, as a large percentage of MRHS students are involved in clubs or sports. Also, sometimes students are able to get rides with friends or even drive themselves, which can limit overcrowding on the buses. Often, the upperclassmen get a free pass to a peaceful car, while the underclassmen are often glued to a non-existent seat.

   “[Buses have] more underclassmen because more upperclassmen have cars and other transport and prefer that to the buses,” shared junior Aashna Sahu.

   Buses often allocate more people than the capacity, which leads the students to overcrowding and not enough seats. Students constantly struggle with overcrowding, which leads them to disliking the buses. Many students report having to fit three people in a seat, which leads to the person on the end having to desperately hold onto the seat during turns to avoid falling straight onto the floor. Even later arrivals have to sit in the aisle.

   “I [was standing] once because there were no seats, but then I got yelled at so I had to sit on the floor,” said Simmons. 

   Standing is a rookie mistake, and wiser riders advise others to crouch in the bus aisle to avoid being seen by the bus driver, who would then shout down the bus to tell you to find a nonexistent open seat. Simmons’s experience is one shared by many students, especially those who live in certain neighborhoods that have more high school students in them, such as Waverly. But in neighborhoods that have less high schoolers in them, students can sometimes find themselves with almost half the bus completely empty, a contrast to the overflowing buses that frequent other communities. These bus overcrowding revelations also raise a question about bus safety and how hazardous it can be. Students standing or sitting on the

floor is a safety concern that leads to injuries, especially when the bus turns or brakes, neither of which buses can go gently.

   “I’ve seen other kids stand in the bus when they can’t find seats. Sometimes, when the bus driver brakes harshly, those kids tend to fall or trip which is really scary,” shared sophomore Saranya Ganti.

   The students, after a rigorous break, turn and twirl throughout the bus, even sliding right in the driver’s lap if sitting down on the floor. These safety issues or concerns are often ignored with no consistent solution for it. Overcrowding surfaces many everyday problems such as rushing to the bus, and time increasing because of many stops; but most importantly the safety on the bus.