The Rapidian

Overcrowded Rapid buses cause concern for rider

A regular passenger of the city bus expresses concern about overcrowding.
Underwriting support from:

I’m writing this article about an issue that is really becoming a big concern to me and other passengers that ride The Rapid.

Since school started this fall, I’ve noticed there seems to be an increasing problem with getting passengers home or where they need to be, and that problem is safety.

The buses often are over-crowded, and it seems to me that this could be dangerous. There are overhead rails and straps, but they don’t extend the length of the bus. If you keep piling on passengers and telling them to keep moving back, where are they moving back to? After rails stop, the rest are seats.

Before I wrote this article, I did some research. The information I read stated that 40 passengers could be seated and 20 passengers standing.

I also contacted the Rapid. According to a representative from the Rapid, the bus driver could pick up as many passengers as possible as long as they stayed behind the yellow line.

This still seems unsafe to me, because the rail starts after the yellow line and stops before you get to the back door—which is about halfway through the bus.

There are so many people standing that the buses looks like they’re moving a herd of cattle.  You can’t even see through the windows from either side.

The routes that seem to be overcrowded are the same daily: routes 1, 2, 3, and 4.   

Maybe it would be wise to have alternate buses added to these routes.

I worry that this is an accident waiting to happen.  If any of these buses had to make a sudden stop, or if a car or van hit the bus or vice versa, there would be plenty of injuries or perhaps death due to these overcrowded buses.

I’m informing about this issue so perhaps some changes can be made, to protect the passengers, as well as The Rapid.


Thank you,

A Concerned Passenger


We need your help.


Please support The Rapidian and make a contribution today.



I don't ride the bus very often (I walk most of the time) but I have had a couple of experiences being on an overcrowded bus. It is almost always a route that a large number of GR public school students use. I have seen handicapped and/or elderly people get on the bus and the students don't give up their seat or worse, I have seen bus drivers have to stop the bus to break up a fight amongst the students. I understand that GRPS has to get students to and from school somehow but it does cause some issues... and it wouldn't be terrible if they were addressed.