Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Public Schools and the NFTA are introducing a new policy aimed at getting kids to and from school more directly. The new policy will require students to be where they need to be two hours after dismissal.
NFTA Police Chief Brian Patterson says this year, students will have new IDs to ride the Metro Bus or Rail.
"What we've done is create some indicators so that officials and stakeholders that are assisting us with making sure kids get home and to school safely can look at an ID card and make a determination where that student should be in the system," says Patterson.
The rule is to have the student get home within two hours of dismissal.
"If you catch a subway from Fountain Plaza to University, it takes about 35 to 40 minutes to make that route. So we've taken a look at how long it takes to get up to move our students and get them where they have to go. And we believe that time is the two hour window was very generous," explains Patterson.
Patterson notes part of the new ID is to keep students from getting onto buses they don't belong on and getting into fights.
"You have different pockets, different groups of students gaming the system and using it to misbehave and we've also had occurrences of fighting that we're always looking to quell and reduce," says Patterson.
He notes 98% of the students using NFTA are well-behaved.
"But it doesn't take much to to disrupt the system, it only takes a small percentage [that] can can really disrupt the system," says Patterson.
That, he says, prompts a look at how to do things better.
Patterson says he will accommodate students with special needs or those who participate in athletics or other after school activities in getting home if the events take them past the two hours after dismissal time.
