Herron Classical schools owns two buses: one to transport elementary and middle school students from Herron Prep and another to transport high school students between Herron and Herron Riverside. This means younger high school students must rely on A) their parents to drive them or B) Indianapolis Public Transit (for the purposes of the article: the Redline). The question is: How do people who ride the Redline feel about their transportation situation? To answer, I interviewed a few different people who have ridden the Redline consistently, and some who have stopped because of the interesting things they’ve seen.

“If it’s your only option and it’s efficient for you then it’s not a terrible option” -Dominik Emmons

First I sat down with Dominik Emmons, a sophomore who has been riding the Redline since freshman year. In his one and a half years of riding the Redline he has seen an interesting range of things, one that sticks out most is the time he witnessed a fellow bus rider defecate on themselves. He told me that the Redline generally has a negative effect on his day. “Every time you get on [the Red Line] it’s always really packed, at least with the one I take… I’m usually standing,” Despite all that he has seen, when asked if he thinks the Redline is a safe or reliable way to get to school he said that it was, “For me, I feel like I’m safe but if I was a girl or someone seen as more vulnerable, I don’t know, maybe. I’ve never seen anyone harass anybody…I feel like if you keep to yourself you’re fine”. Riding the Redline could be scary as a freshman according to other riders but Dominik finds safety in the community of Herron scholars that take the bus along with him, “if I take the bus with other Herron kids, I feel like if someone was getting picked on someone would step up and say something.”

“It makes me frustrated because the one time I wasn’t being careful was the one time it happened”- Ellie Conn

The next day I interviewed Ellie Conn, a person many of my peers recommended I talk to when I showed interest in writing this article. None had told me exactly why I needed to talk to Ellie but I soon found out in my interview: “the bus has always been… interesting. Obviously what made me stop riding the Redline was the worst but there were definitely things leading up to that.” The last time Ellie rode the bus was on picture day of this school year, August 6, 2024. She begins the story right before she got off of the bus on the 18th street stop, “I was on my way… I was trying to mind my business ’cause I was excited. I was like, ‘I’m going to see everybody and it’s going to be great, it’s going to be fun.’ But it wasn’t fun.” She started noticing signs when two people sitting near her started to cast frequent glances her way. “I didn’t think anything of it because people on the bus are weird, that happens” she says as she recalls the events. When the bus reached her stop and she started her trek to the Harrison Center, she noticed the two following close behind her. “‘You know what, I’m not going to think about it because it’s probably nothing,’ and this is the one time that I should’ve thought about it.” She wasn’t suspicious of it at first but as she went to cross the street the two figures continued behind her until one came up to ask if they could make a call using Ellie’s phone. When Ellie denied the request the woman snatched the phone from her hand and the other threatened her when Ellie asked for her phone back. This experience obviously led Ellie not to feel safe on the Redline anymore, and cautions all to be careful. Despite the trauma related to it, she says she misses the freedom the Redline gave her: “Everyone I know lives down here and so it’s easier for me to see them if I take the bus.”

“Its a nice way to get around the city for free,” -Colton Dunaway

Lastly, I talked to long time Redline rider Colton Dunaway. Since he began riding his freshman year, Colton says he has seen a wide range of human behavior, from defecation (an odd consistency in Redline stories) to listening to kind conversations between strangers. Colton chooses to ride the Redline as often as he can: “I can drive to school; I have a car and my license but it’s more of a social thing, I go with my friends.” The Redline serves as social time and a way to mentally relax after a hard day of school. The strangeness of the bus riders often exceeds the line of comfort for students, but it can also serve as a way to learn some helpful situational skills “Sometimes there will be an angry person up in your face… you don’t want to frighten them and get them more erratic.” As a way to get to school, Colton says that “if you don’t have any other way home… it’s not dangerous, you definitely get to see some spectacles”

As you can see riding the Redline has its pros and cons but overall the consensus is that it is safe most of the time. Cases such as Ellie Conn’s are rare but possible, so if you choose to ride the Redline, whether it be for friends or just to get from point A to B, being vigilant is extremely important. If you can ignore the bodily matter, making friends, seeing your community, and learning how to be independent in an urban area are a few things you’ll be able to do. Riding the Redline is a consistently available option if you need it but from three Redline riders to those just now getting on the bus, a ride with friends or family is usually better.