Buses are the way many students travel to and from school everyday. Therefore, when the news was announced that there would be a new step added to bus transportation, it was quite unexpected. Bus passes are a new form of student identification that started this year at Olympia.
However, there are some questions that some people have about this new system. What exactly are bus passes?
“Well, It’s technically not a bus pass, it’s a bus ID, which allows you to swipe when you get on the bus, and swipe when you get off the bus. So, it basically tells the driver that you belong to that particular bus,” Assistant Principal Karen Nelthropp said.
OCPS Transportation Services came up with the idea for the bus ID cards, so every school in the district is using them.
Do you have to pay for a new bus pass if you lose it? “At this time, no. If you lose your bus ID you simply let us know, and we will request one for you,” Mrs. Nelthropp added.
With such a huge and sudden change made to the bus system, there is bound to be some discourse. Many students are discussing their thoughts on the bus passes among their peers.
Older students at Olympia tend to have a negative opinion on the bus passes, because they were already used to getting on the bus without them. “As a Junior, they randomly changed it up in the beginning of the year, so it’s kind of a weird change”, Junior Mason Fazio said. Another student who dislikes the new bus passes is Junior Ryan Souza.
Souza says “I have negative thoughts about the bus passes, because I feel like we don’t really need them. We already have our school IDs from freshman year, so why would we need them?”
Even so, there are still students who believe that the bus passes are a good addition to Olympia. Freshman, Ahisha Acevedo, exclaims “I feel like my opinions [towards the passes] are positive, because then you know who is suppose to be on the bus, and who is not suppose to be on the bus, it’s safer.”
As you can see, the discussion around bus passes is controversial at Olympia. Even though everyone has differing thoughts about the bus IDs, they are nevertheless here to stay.
