CINCINNATI — The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) will not reinstate specialty student bus routes before the start of the upcoming school year, but it's planning to work with Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) over the next week to see if changes to the replacement plan are needed.

What You Need To Know

  • Representatives from SORTA and CPS met Tuesday to discuss busing options

  • Metro’s current driver shortage will not allow them to implement the XTRA service routes prior to the first day of school on Aug. 19

  • CPS and SORTA said they are "committed to student safety” and will work together to determine next steps

Representatives from SORTA and CPS met Tuesday to discuss busing options. SORTA operates Cincinnati Metro.

In a joint statement following the meeting, the two sides said Metro’s current driver shortage will not allow them to implement the XTRA service routes prior to the first day of school on Aug. 19.  

XTRA service provides direct routes to public and private secondary schools across the city.

The program is for eligible students in grades 7-12. About 6,000 CPS students use those routes every day, according to the school district.

The district's elementary school students are transported to and from schools on traditional yellow buses.

In the place of XTRA, SORTA planned to implement a series of changes, which included having students use regular Metro routes, similar to systems in Dayton and Columbus.

SORTA said the changes would be more efficient and also provide greater access to more students.

The plan called for longer running hours during the school week and new Saturday hours, which will make it easier for students to get to extracurriculars or after-school jobs, SORTA said. All career and technical program students will now be eligible for a CPS pass as well. 

The overall service changes were set to take place Aug. 15, four days before the first day of classes for CPS students.

SORTA announced the proposed decision in late July. What followed was a back-and-forth between the school district and the bus system.

CPS interim Superintendent Tianay Amat wrote in a letter to SORTA CEO Darryl Haley to reconsider the plan before the start of the school year. She said she had concerns about the safety of younger students and envisioned issues with bus-loading at dismissal times.

The transit agency issued a statement saying the plan was "mutually determined" over the course of a month as part of an annual service review with CPS.

SORTA hosted a virtual public meeting Aug. 5, to discuss proposed changes. Initially the meeting was going to be in-person, but SORTA said it changed the format because of the current state of COVID-19 in the region.

On Tuesday, CPS and SORTA said they are "committed to student safety” and will work together to determine next steps.

They said they plan to form a working group to conduct a "school-by-school review" and consider adjustments that may need to be made before the school year begins.