Calderside transport arrangements are simply laughable

May 8 2008

While the Calderside Academy building has been criticised endlessly — and rightly so — actually travelling to and from there every day deserves a letter in its own right.

Every morning my friends and I are left standing at the bus stop for up to 50 minutes. On a sunny day, no problem. However, no-one likes standing outside in the snow, rain or wind with no shelter or cover for nearly an hour. When pupils go outside to catch a bus for school, they shouldn't have to catch a cold as well.

When the bus actually does arrive (assuming it hasn't broken down), the condition inside is ridiculous: graffiti over the walls and dirt everywhere. No-one’s expecting five-star luxury transport, however you should at least be able to sit down without first checking for chewing gum on the seat.

Behaviour on board is also deplorable. I look forward to the day when we receive our so called ‘supervisor’, however so far they have only been present on a small number of journeys.

On a recent trip, a pupil on the top floor of the bus was smoking a cigarette. Ignoring the fact the pupil was underage, you are still not allowed to smoke on a bus. And where was our so-called supervisor while this happened? Downstairs having a blether with the driver.

If you get off the bus and have only been hit by a bottle, food or jotter once, then consider yourself luckier than most.

Going home from school is also a less-than-enjoyable experience. Several times buses have failed to turn up, resulting in sharing buses. This makes them very crowded, with several pupils having to stand all the way home. South Lanarkshire Council have a responsibility to get us home safely at the end of the day, a responsibility they seem to have forgotten.

The current transport situation is laughable. The council have promised safe and supervised transport and have delivered on neither. By the time you arrive at the school you want to leave again, until you remember that means another journey on the bus.

With important exams for a large number of pupils in the coming weeks, being on time is critical. Unfortunately for us, timekeeping has never been a strong point for the bus drivers.

My advice for those who wish to arrive on time to their exams? Call a taxi.

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