What Lansing high school students, parents should know about CATA busing
LANSING — There are going to be a lot of firsts for Lansing School District high school students come the first day of school on Monday.
Including, for some, taking a Capital Area Transportation Authority bus to school after the school district announced it was dropping traditional school bus routes for high schoolers earlier this month.
“We certainly understand that this is a big change,” Superintendent Benjamin Shuldiner said during a Lansing School District Board of Education meeting last week. “We understand that this is scary to a lot of people. But I really want to assure the community that this was not done lightly. This was a conversation, multiple conversations, over the course of months and weeks and a lot of decisions with talking to families, talking to teachers, talking to kids, talking to a lot of folks with this decision."
Here are eight key questions about how the new program works:
How do families get a bus pass (or a free gas card)?
Eastern High School, Everett High School and J.W. Sexton High School will have welcome back to school events on Thursday and at these events school staff will help people sign out bus passes or gas cards.
Shuldiner said each of the high schools will have a person distributing bus passes before school starts where students will get a bus pass number and sign for it.
Or, for parents who opt to drive their student to school or students who drive themselves, the district is offering a free gas card.
People must request transportation for each student individually, so if a parent has two kids they must request transportation for both, which can be done on the school district’s website.
Parents must be Lansing School District residents to be eligible for transportation, according to the school district’s website.
Is the bus pass limited for trips to and from school?
These bus passes allow unlimited rides on CATA’s fixed routes throughout its system to school, a job, shopping, restaurants, social services agencies and more, CATA Director of Marketing and Customer Experience Lolo Robison said in an email.
One additional pass will be available per household, which will allow a parent to accompany their student aboard a CATA bus, catch a ride to work, or travel for family errands and activities.
How much money is on the gas cards?
Families can receive a $50 Speedway gas card per month, per child, during the 2022-23 school year, a total of $500 per child, according to its website.
Gas card amounts may vary month-to-month but changes will be announced in advance, according to the district's website.
People can use the gas cards like any other gas gift card at any Speedway gas station. Cards are reloaded each month by the district so people should not discard them.
People should report lost or stolen gas cards immediately at tat@lansingschools.net. The district can’t reimburse these funds and the transportation application team will let parents know when they can pick up a replacement, according to the website.
Who is riding CATA buses?
Shuldiner said because the district is school of choice, more than 8,000 of its 10,000 students are eligible for transportation and want to use it.
There will still be traditional busing for kindergarten through eighth grade students and for special education students. Only ninth through 12th grade students are impacted by the busing changes, he said.
Outside of the Lansing School District population, CATA is a public transit service provider and provides open-door service, Robison said.
“In other words, all members of the public are welcome aboard,” she said. “We have a diverse population of riders who utilize our services.”
Are there safety concerns?
Last year CATA provided 250 bus passes for use by district students and received zero complaints from students and parents about safety-related issues, CATA CEO Bradley Funkhouser wrote in an opinion piece for the Lansing State Journal.
“I also understand that there is a sense of, ‘but what about safety? What about security?'” Shuldiner said.
The school will not only have public safety officers at the CATA Transportation Center in downtown Lansing in the mornings and afternoons, but the school will also have an office there that CATA is providing, Shuldiner said.
“We’re going to have people there all the time during that morning rush as well as during the afternoon rush,” he said.
Funkhouser said the company is recruiting “amBUSsadors” — responsible adults who will board some routes in pairs and ride to the three high schools. They will keep an eye out for student riders, answer questions and provide guidance.
These will be routes specifically servicing the high schools and includes routes 5, 11, 12 and 13. Students can use any other route to get to other destinations, but the AmBUSsador program will initially focus on supporting students, Robison said in a written message.
“CATA’s diverse ridership reflects our region’s population, and our student riders are no exception,” Funkhouser wrote.
Where are the bus stops for students?
CATA and the Lansing School District have put together a special map with specific routes for students, Shuldiner said.
This map can be found on the school district’s website and shows routes 1 – downtown Lansing to the Meridian Mall – through 18 – Capital City Crosstown.
There is a stop in front of both Sexton and Eastern high schools and there are plans for a new bus stop in front of Everett High School, Shuldiner said.
Robison said students and parents can go to CATA’s website for route planning and a bus stop locater; the Transit app can be downloaded for free; and CATAnow is an SMS and email service that delivers next-bus information.
Details about the four routes that service the high schools can be found at cata.now/lansingschooldistrict.
What happens if a student gets lost?
Shuldiner said the school district has vans and cars through its public safety office and if a student gets lost staff can help them. CATA also has its own vans to help people in trouble and the Lansing Police Department can be called for help.
He said sometimes high school kids get lost on purpose, and "I can’t help that, but you know if a kid really is lost, we’re always there to help support them.”
How can people find out more?
People can call 517-755-3017 or send an email to tat@lansingschools.net.
Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: How Lansing high school students can get CATA bus passes, free gas cards
