http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/mar/10/illinois-public-school-students-take-transit/
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. — For Champaign-Urbana residents who grew up in these cities, learning about mass transit occurred early.
Public schools here have had a long-running partnership with the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District to provide transportation services to middle and high school students in the city.
"We like it from the standpoint that the kids are learning a life skill," said Bill Volk, director of the Champaign-Urbana's Mass Transit District, or MTD.
Some Columbia residents have recently expressed support for a similar arrangement in Columbia between its bus system and the local public school district.
According to information gathered by the PedNet Coalition at a discussion on alternative transportation held last month in central Columbia, attendees provided suggestions for changes they would like to see for Columbia Transit and took votes on each other's ideas.
The most votes went to the idea that bus schedules should be restructured to serve Columbia Public Schools students.
Christiane Quinn, a member for Columbians for Modern and Efficient Transit, who has attended the transit trips to Lawrence, Kan., and Champaign-Urbana, has argued that public school students in Columbia should be more accommodated by the public transit system.
She has a son who attends Hickman High School and said because of a recent change in the city's routes, her son does not have the ability to use the bus from their West Broadway home to get to school on time.
MTD representatives said allowing middle and high school students to take public transit rather than yellow school buses can help the students achieve a greater feeling of independence, and it helps broaden interest in public transit at a younger age. Local school districts provide funding to the MTD, and students are given a sticker to place on their student IDs that gives them access to the bus system.
David Wilson, a transportation coordinator for Columbia Public Schools who went along for the trip, said he is a supporter of the district's yellow buses, but he said if members of the community would like to see increased access to public transit by public school students, then finding ways to help students who live within a few miles of their respective schools should be explored.
"That would be the place you would want to be looking," Wilson said.
Reach Andrew Denney at 573-815-1719 or e-mail akdenney@columbiatribune.com.