The SamTrans labor action causes student concern over detentions and potential undeserved tardies.
SamTrans bus service consists of Redi-Wheels, RediCoast paratransit service, Caltrain commuter rail and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. They provide service throughout the Bay Area to 8,528,698 riders as of 2023, including Woodside students. SamTrans bus drivers most recently called in sick on Sept. 5 after Amalgamated Transit Local Union 1574 rejected a proposal deemed fair by SamTrans officials. Students and faculty have noticed these disruptions induced by contract negotiations with SamTrans employees.
“We have a large number of students who depend on SamTrans as their transportation to get to school and home, and there are two lines that serve Woodside,” Administrative Vice Principal Wendy Porter said. “Any disruption to [those] services is going to create issues for students getting to school, [including] probably more traffic congestion getting to school, and more people having to drive.”
The roads are increasingly being filled with students in cars instead of buses. This has caused many students to be late to school. Freshman Jonah Hsu takes SamTrans and has noticed the buses coming up to 10 minutes late.
“I think a lot of students are being marked tardy for first period, especially because it’s the first class of the entire day,” Hsu said. “I think with SamTrans being late, a lot of students might get detention and stuff like that.”
This is a first for many, as students previously experienced steady schedules .
“The bus schedules were fairly consistent,” sophomore Lucas Kuo said. “There was one day on the first week of school where something happened, but I think that was my fault.”
Reimagine SamTrans occurred a few years ago, beginning in the summer of 2019 and finally being implemented in 2022. This program consisted of an analysis and revision of routes and ridership to help schools and overall transportation changes from the pandemic.
“[In the past] there were some changes where ridership was really low on some routes and one of the routes coming to school was no longer in service at the time,” Porter said. “There’s been that, but [it’s] not related to labor. I don’t recall [issues with SamTrans] in the 10 years I’ve been [working as an AVP].”
In the midst of these issues students still know that there is a positive side to them, and know why they exist in the first place.
“I think that if the bus drivers or workers want more money, and this strike will get them more money, than I think that it can be positive for them,” freshman Lucas Campana said. “They should be paid more or they should receive what they deserve.”
Employees of SamTrans would be able to receive more benefits if labor negotiations are successful, and therefore attract more employees to SamTrans providing more service.
“I would love to see increase in student ridership,” Porter said. “I think if we increase the ridership [and] fewer people are driving in here, there’s less congestion, there’s less parking all over the place.”
