I love to wait. Any time, anywhere: in supermarket checkout lines, at the DMV behind the tattooed redneck with the endearing plumber’s smile, at red lights as I try to avoid eye contact with the Russian mafioso in the beemer to my left, which was looking more than a little shabby next to my totally classy 1995 Ford Explorer. Wait a minute. I absolutely hate waiting, along with everyone else in the world, especially when I could be doing something much more valuable with my time.
So I, along with every other Marlborough girl who takes the bus, was stoked to hear the buses would be departing at 3:05p.m. instead of 3:15p.m. this year. Gone are the days of waiting half an hour for my bus to leave. It was like the universe had finally heard my plea.
Director of Middle School Robert Bryan said that the switch was made “to ensure the most efficient use of time.” Even though the current departure time is only ten minutes earlier than it was last year, it allows buses to get a head start before traffic hour hits. As a result, girls get home earlier and bus drivers have more time to get back to Marlborough before the late bus leaves. This is what my personal life-coach and unofficial soul-sister Oprah Winfrey would call a “win-win.”
The decision to change the time of departure was made late last spring after a survey showed most girls would benefit from an earlier departure. The questionnaire, which was sent out by e-mail in February to all bus riders, asked what girls did in the time between School dismissal at 2:45 and bus departure at 3:15 and tried to gauge how receptive the students would be to leaving earlier.
Initially, there was a concern that if the buses left earlier, girls who took the bus would miss out on time to meet with teachers after school. However the results of the survey showed that the thirty minutes between school dismissal and bus departure was rarely used for meetings. Meghan ’14 added that, “thirty minutes wasn’t really enough time to accomplish much of anything.”
80% of bus riders took the questionnaire, and most responded positively to the proposed change, according to Bryan. Instead of changing the bus times in the middle of the semester, it was decided that the change would be implemented at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year.
Emily ’15, who rides the South Bay Bus, said she prefers leaving at 3:05. “I am not waiting around as long, and I am getting home a lot earlier, which means I have more time to do homework and extracurriculars.”
Like Oprah says, it’s a win-win.
