09/02/2026
On a late August Friday afternoon, Margaret, a freshman at Anderson High School, had three choices to get home: walk against traffic along Loop 360 with no sidewalk; walk on a trail for more than an hour; or take a shortcut by going down a steep concrete embankment, across Bull Creek, and up another embankment.
“It’s just really hard to get down to the trail, so the highway is easier, it’s just more scary,” Margaret said as she looked down the steep slope. “I don’t want to get run over just trying to walk home.”
Margaret was prepared to walk in the 100-degree heat, but unexpected rain brought temperatures down to the low 90s. This was the second time she was walking home from her newly assigned bus hub. The first time she said she almost had a heatstroke.
The Austin Independent School District changed its transportation system for high school students for the 2026-27 school year as part of budget cuts. Under the new system, the district replaced neighborhood stops with hubs at elementary schools, CapMetro bus stops and community centers. Two weeks into the school year, some families are struggling with the change.
“I shouldn’t have to feel like it’s an inconvenience for the kids to use the bus system,” Daphne Harrington, Margaret’s mom, said. “I realize there’s budget cuts, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the safety of our children.”
In previous years, Margaret would be dropped off by the school bus right outside the family’s apartment complex on Loop 360. But since the beginning of the school year Harrington has been trying to solve how to get her kids home. She relied on co-workers and friends to pick her kids up and took off early from work, but that meant cuts to her pay.
“I’m the sole caregiver of my children. I don’t get any assistance from anywhere, so they depend on me,” Harrington said. “If I don’t work, I don’t have enough to cover my rent or my electricity or the bills, or we have to ration and spread out dinners.”
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Video: Lorianne Willett (Lorianne Willett)
