A rare sight: teens on school bus

I took the bus this morning -- the big yellow bus.

I hitched a ride on the "high school route" on Sycamore Schools' Bus 23 to see, in the age of high fuel costs, how many teenagers are willing to ride rather than drive.

Let's just say I had plenty of elbow room. Fifteen students climbed aboard for the 7.5-mile route. Transportation officials say 30 students live along that route.

Cost savings, and certainly fuel conservation, don't make much of an impression on teenagers when stacked against personal mobility, sleeping in an extra half-hour and the option of stopping by Starbucks on the way to school.

Still, I'm hoping to raise a little environmental consciousness. I'm going to offer teenagers an Earth Day challenge in an upcoming column. If they rise to the bait, I may be spending more time on a bus myself.

In the meantime. . . did you ride the bus to school in high school? Who out there makes their kids ride one today?