As the Bus Hub is being built, the Growler caught up with some teachers to ask about their thoughts on the project that ultimately forced the baseball field to move locations. The hub will house EPISD buses at the end of the day, once each driver has finished its routes.

Mr. Miguel Flores, math, soccer coach

“I think it will create a lot of traffic and I think that the kids might just have another excuse to be tardy, maybe saying that the bus caused them to be tardy. Definitely the traffic will be a problem, we already have a lot of traffic when people are going towards the bridge so there’s a lot of big trailers and now with the buses I think they’ll be more. I definitely think it will cause more pollution since there is gonna be more traffic and the buses running. One thing we might consider is that maybe getting more trees or plants so we can hopefully reduce some pollution.”

Mr. Freddy Herrera, business, soccer coach

“I think that the new bus station is gonna cause us to change the way we do things here at Bowie cause we’re gonna have more traffic. I think some of the exits we have at Bowie is gonna cause some problems, hopefully they do their planning right so that everybody remains safe, drives and walk safely. I think that the pollution will have an effect. I think they should have done some tests to analyze this, and hopefully they monitor as the buses come in and out so that if we need to adjust things, we can adjust them.”

Mr. Robert Prior, English

“The first effect that the bus station next to Bowie is going to cause is the air pollution because the diesel fuels and the amount of carbon in the air is really  going to affect the way we breath. I have asthma so hopefully I can be able to teach after December. I don’t know if it’s gonna be a problem with traffic personally because the buses will be leaving before we start and they’ll be coming back after we leave. [Do you think the pollution will worsen?] Yes I do, I think it will. Normally I exercise at the Chamizal, sometimes I come in the mornings or in the weekends, and I do notice some days are worse than the others.”

Mr. Erich Valenzuela, science

“Well I think there’s gonna be a lot of traffic and issues since the buses are kinda big so you can easily not see people around the corner because of them. I think it’ll be a big problem in the morning, especially that the buses need to leave to pick up the kids and it will cause a lot of traffic, especially in the Paisano area. [What do you think about buses polluting the area?] I think in the mornings and in the evenings yes, because it’s a lot of traffic so it can pollute a lot.”

Mr. Gus Gonzalez, science

“I think its a bad idea to bring bus stations to our school, it’ll just add more pollution and traffic. In my opinion it’s not right. [Will the bus hub create more traffic?] I believe so I mean, traffic’s already bad enough as it is and then to have these extra buses come in here, it will just add to the chaos. I think the district could of found a better place to put this bus stop. [Do you think the pollution will worsen?] Absolutely, I mean, we already have enough pollution coming from across the border, we can’t afford to add to it. Again, I wish the district could of found a better place to put the buses.”