GPTC begins busing students to Gary schools
By Carole Carlson ccarlson@post-trib.com/648-3154 September 14, 2012 3:28PM
Senior Kadeza Glover, 18, (left) and junior Ateeva Knox, 17, are let off the Route 18 bus at 45th and Broadway as they make their way to Lew Wallace STEM Academy in Gary, Ind. Friday September 14, 2012. Friday was the first day GPTC began offering service to and from schools for students. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
Updated: October 16, 2012 6:06AM
GARY — The new bus service that rolled out Friday for Gary Community School Corp. secondary students wasn’t new to Kadeza Glover and Ateeva Knox.
The Lew Wallace STEM Academy students disembarked from a GPTC bus at 45th Avenue and Broadway Friday morning for the short walk west to school.
“I take it regularly,” said Glover, 18, who said she’s been riding GPTC buses since school began. “I have no other transportation. We don’t have any Glen Park buses.”
Glover said she lives at 49th Avenue and Tennessee Street, about 20 blocks from school.
She said a school bus picked her up last year but the School Board has since adopted a cost savings policy calling for students who live within 2 miles of school to walk. Glover said the daily bus ride costs her $1.25.
As they got off the bus, they managed to avoid a huge puddle that covered 45th Avenue, west of Broadway.
The new collaboration between the school district and GPTC will provide Glover with free bus service. She said she applied for a card on Thursday.
Knox, 17, who lives at 35th Avenue and Massachusetts Street, said she applied for a bus card, too. She said she usually walks home from school.
George Neal, director of transportation for GPTC, said Friday’s morning service seemed to run smoothly. He said he won’t have ridership numbers until Saturday.
“We had the service out there. I hadn’t had any call that there were problems,” he said.
The school district is paying GPTC for the service, but the contract cost hasn’t been disclosed.
