The landscape of public schooling in Indianapolis is about to change,

Much of that change was driven by narratives around transportation, particularly buses or lack thereof. That’s an appropriate hill for either side to die on, as bussing is expensive and significantly alters the dynamics of a school. Right now, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and the Mayor’s office are in discussions about how to incorporate more charter schools into the bussing plan. IndyGo should be a key part of that conversation.

I attended a magnet school with a downtown campus that didn’t offer school buses. I was on the city bus, called TARC in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, starting in fourth grade. So, I’m not exactly unbiased. But using public transportation to get to school is a fact of life in many mid-sized to large cities, including Indianapolis.

IPS already has a partnership with IndyGo to provide eligible high school students with public transportation to and from school. Students who qualify, based on proximity, travel time, and transfer requirements, are issued a personalized, reduced-fare MyKey card to ride IndyGo buses. I regularly see IPS students getting on and off the bus during my commute.

When a school doesn’t have buses, it’s easy to overlook the advantages of partnering with a city’s transit system. But there are several key benefits:

• Cost-effectiveness: Many city bus routes already go where schools need service, reducing the need to add dedicated yellow bus routes.
• Independence: Students who ride public transit gain a valuable life skill and become more capable of navigating the world on their own.
• Volume: Increased student ridership helps make certain routes financially viable, which can expand the system’s overall reach.
• Extracurriculars: I worked at a charter school that had buses, but they didn’t solve the transportation challenges for students with after-school commitments like clubs, tutoring, or sports. City buses can.

I understand that schools without buses may resist the idea of “settling” for bus vouchers. I’m not suggesting that. I’m proposing a hybrid approach—one that eases the burden on already stretched school bus systems while investing in local transit infrastructure that ultimately benefits everyone.