APS Asking Residents for Feedback on Bus Service, Procedures for Spring Review

(Updated at 1 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools is asking for residents’ feedback on its bus “service, policies and procedures” as part of a comprehensive review scheduled this spring.

The school system’s Department of Multimodal Transportation Planning is helming the review, which will address issues including budget, congestion, and rising enrollment, per the announcement.

Arlingtonians are invited to a series of workshops in March and April to share their thoughts in person:

• Monday, March 25 at Wakefield (1325 S. Dinwiddie Street)
• Wednesday, March 27 at Yorktown (5200 Yorktown Blvd)
• Wednesday, April 3 at Washington-Liberty (1301 N. Stafford Street)
• Saturday, April 6 at Patrick Henry (701 S. Highland Street)

Participants will also have an opportunity to submit comments online in a questionnaire scheduled to be released this month, per the APS announcement.

“Whether your student currently rides a bus or you would like to know how bus eligibility is determined, or your student used to ride the bus or may ride the bus in the future, we’d like to hear from you,” APS said, noting that the last time APS held a top-down review of its bus system was in 2005.

Some adjustments have been made since then, such as trying to shore up attendance on buses in 2012 with a voucher system.

APS is also conducting a public survey with the county until Thursday, April 4 to overhaul the industrial lot where its school buses are stored. The 38-acre “Trades Center” lot has struggled with overcrowding for years, officials say, leading APS to shift some school vehicles over to the “Buck site” on 1425 N. Quincy Street starting last year.

Flickr pool photo by afagan