The Wheels on The Bus...

Lincoln has a new smaller bus to help transport students. It joined the three larger buses last spring as part of the D&L Bus fleet owned by Laurie and Doug Richards, but has only made it on to the road this school year.

"We were in the process of buying it before COVID hit. They were having to do some work on it. They got it done a month after we hadn't been in school. I said, we can't buy this bus and have it sitting, but that's exactly what we did. We'd been on the search for a smaller bus for quite a while. So it just sat until this year," said Laurie.

Because there aren't as many students in the school, having a smaller bus makes it easier to transport the students, and it brings a number of advantages.

"It does get better mileage than the bigger ones. Tires are cheaper. So far, it's proven to get around pretty great on the winter roads," said Doug. He added that because the vehicle is newer than the other buses, maintenance costs are lower, too.

With COVID closures, the buses have seen less use than in previous years.

Of the four buses the couple owns, only three have been on the road this year.

"One of them we left out of commission this year because the school has cut back with COVID," said Doug.

"We really don't need three buses that much," added Laurie, but because two buses periodically get booked for out of town events, it's necessary to have the third one.

"As far as extra-curricular trips, we haven't been really busy with them this year. No field trips, no extra field trips, no honor roll trips," she said.

One counterbalance to the dropped services was the delivery of meals during school closures. Each day, the Richards would pick up boxed breakfasts and lunches from the school to deliver to families that had signed up for them.

The buses used to be available for hire by organizations outside of the school, like the Red Hat Society and public tours, but it requires additional insurance, and the Richards say they're busy enough these days not to have that service available.

To have the buses running requires insurance and inspections by the highway patrol, so each bus in operation adds extra cost. Additionally, there's plenty of training that goes into operating the buses.

"It used to be you just needed a CDL, first aid, and DOT physical," said Laurie, "and then they started adding qualifications. Background checks, fingerprinting, random drug and alcohol testing, 15 hours of safety training once a year."

The Richards have been driving the buses for 26 years. Before that, Laurie's parents drove them.

"My mom and dad had the bus contract from the time I was in fourth grade," said Laurie, adding, "It was just one little bus, that's what my mom and dad started with when they bid on the contract and got it. About in 1994, there were two buses going for the route. One bus was going on the other side of Rogers Pass every day. There was some issues with some kids and my dad thought, 'You know what? It's time to retire.'"

Her parents asked Doug and Laurie if they'd be willing to take over their contract, which had about a year and a half left on it. The School Board approved Doug and Laurie taking over for them.

"One of the positive things is we got to follow all our kids and their activities. Now we're doing the same thing with our grandkids. We enjoy the kids," Laurie said. "One thing that is stressful is it's a lot of responsibility, especially when the roads are bad. You have a lot of responsibility to deliver those kids safely," said Laurie. She added that the red light on the bus means drivers on both sides of the road need to stop.

"We try to pick up all of our kids to where they do not have to pass in front of traffic," said Laurie. "All of them know: you wait to cross until we wave you over. It's amazing how many people will pass the red flashing light."