Despite stressful school drop off and pick ups, 56% of parents don't utilize school bus

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sometimes the most stressful part of the school day has nothing to do with the classroom. A new survey revealed how some parents feel about the drop-off and pick-up lines and bus transportation for school.

The survey by ValuePenguin found that 63% of parents think the bus is the best option for their kid, but more than half don't utilize it.

"I was spending on average, five hours a week driving, yeah, because the traffic," parent Marissa Fisk said.

Fisk, a personal chef and mom of two, has a third grader in Dripping Springs ISD who doesn't have a bus option, but her seventh grader does.

"It's helped our lives a lot. And if she needs a ride, she gets a ride, and if she wants to ride the bus, she rides the bus. But it's really nice to have that option," Fisk said.

The survey said some parents' reasons for not using the bus include the arrival and departure schedule, overcrowding, the threat of bullying, or exposure to cell phones.

"Buses are still the safest way to get your children to school. They're built with safety in mind. They're bright yellow so everybody can see them. Everybody has to stop," Divya Sangam, a ValuePenguin spokesperson, said.

That survey also found that 61% of parents said the school drop-off and pick-up is stressful.

"I got honked at in the middle school line because it's different. It's a new school. I didn't know what I was doing. Like, bear with me. I'm figuring it out, too," parent Laura Miller said.

Miller is an Austin area attorney and podcaster and she is able to work from home, which is helpful because both of her children don't have a bus option.

"I've never had a problem where I wasn't trusting of the process, but I work from home, so luckily, with my daughter not having bus service, it is what it is," Miller said.

Austin ISD said it transports nearly 23,000 students by bus daily out of its 73,000 plus students.