Colorado Bus Driver Calls Cops When 13 Preschoolers Board Without Fare

BASALT, Colo. — High gas prices, congestion and global warming have made bus service in the environmentally conscious Roaring Fork Valley more popular — maybe too popular.
Thirteen preschoolers unknowingly got caught in policies aimed at accommodating more commuters when a driver asked a sheriff's deputy to kick the kids off her bus last week.

The driver wouldn't move for 20 minutes until Deputy Rob Lawson arrived, Lawson felt uncomfortable asking the kids to leave, and he ended up giving the kids stickers to make them feel better.

The trouble began when the 13 preschoolers and their three teachers got on the bus to go from Basalt to El Jebel before noon March 20. The driver told Lawson the children hadn't paid fares, Eagle County sheriff's officials said.

Usually, children 5 and under ride free, making the buses popular with preschools taking summer and spring outings.

Last summer, partly to limit buses from being overtaken by preschoolers during the busy rush hour, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority started requiring those under 5 to pay $1 for rides if they were in groups of more than 10, CEO Dan Blankenship said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,261923,00.html

 

I don't see a problem with this poilcy. This is public transpotation, not the pre-schools private bus charter. There are people that use this system to get to and from work everyday. If these schools were abusing the system and it was hurting the paying public it was meant for, they should be able to refuse service. I say kick their little butts off and make'em walk. They smell funny too.