Mayor Warren says the practice of busing students to the Transit Center has to stop.
Warren blames the recent acts of violence, including a fight Wednesday morning that injured a bystander, on the amount of Rochester City School Students that transfer through the terminal.
"Experience has shown us that when large numbers of students from different schools congregate, fights are inevitable."
The mayor is calling on the RCSD and the RTS to come up with an alternative immediately.
"I am directly calling on Bolgen Vargas, our superintendent, and Bill Carpenter to take responsibility for the students and the riders that frequent the terminal seriously by taking action and fixing the situation."
In the meantime, the city has allocated extra officers to the area in an effort to reduce crime. Deputy Chief Wayne Harris says this will not disrupt police services to the rest of the community. But Warren says this will cost money, and its not a permanent solution.
The RTS is in the process of rerouting buses to reduce the total number of students that transfer downtown by 60%, but not eliminate those transfers altogether.
A statement from the bus company reads, in part:
"The safety of our customers – especially the four million customers who have been served at the Transit Center since it opened – and our employees remains our highest priority."
Mayor Warren says she will not wait to see if just reducing the number of students will solve the problem.
A statement from the office of the superintendent reads:
"Even complete elimination of downtown bus routes for students will not guarantee an end to youth violence, at the transit center or elsewhere in our city. I have long said that the Rochester City School District cannot do it alone. Mayor Warren echoed this position yesterday when she said that we cannot do it alone as a city and the police department can’t do it alone. I agree with Mayor Warren that we need to hold young people accountable when they act out, and we need to engage their parents in requiring proper behavior."
