Letting Kids Use Public Transport Themselves

[Gil]

What age do you let your kids use the city bus/public transport without you? Its a cold and rainy day and the boys wanted another poll so here it is.

[regentrude]

Depends on where you are. Here where I live in the US, the option does not exist as our town has no public transit.

 

When we lived in Germany, 11 year olds were expected to use public transit across the city daily on their own, in order to get to school.

So, a 9 or 10 year old would definitely use public transit without an adult, younger kids very often, too.

 

None of this would be applicable in an American city with crummy and unsafe public transit options.

 

So, i don't think your poll means much.

[Bootsie]

My kids did not use public transportation alone in our city until they were 16 or 17.  However, I felt very comfortable with them using public transportation in Germany and Austria by the time they were in middle elementary school.

[Loowit]

It would really depend on the area.  I wouldn't want my kids to use public transportation here until they were in their late teens.  I know too much about the people who use it and it just isn't convenient for us.  I would however, let my 13 (almost 14) year old ride her bike around some places in town rather than use public transportation.

[SKL]

I voted 9-10 but my kids are still 7/8 so I am just assuming.  We also don't normally ride public transportation as a family, so I would have to teach them how first.

 

When I was a kid, I went by myself on the public city bus at 9yo if not younger.  It was definitely not too young.

[Cera]

In the US I wouldn't allow it before 7th grade.  I think my child (especially my oldest) would certainly be capable before then but our culture frowns on it and I would be worried about the repercussions from interference by nosy people.  I have no interest in causing a CPS investigation because of how unpredictable our system can be.

 

eta:  I would let a 10+ year old who showed responsibility use public transit in europe or parts of asia.

[Garga]

There is none around here. None. No buses, no taxis. Wait--there's some sort of bus that will pick up elderly people and take them places. That's it.

 

Since I'm so unfamiliar with public transportation I said 15-17. The only people I know who use it outside of NYC are people who can't afford cars in cities and unfortunately live in the bad parts of town. To me, public transportation means you're going through slums.

 

Now, if it was like in Europe or in a place where it didn't mean "slum" that would change my answer. Then I'd say 13-14, but mostly because my 12 year old is a full head shorter than ALL of his 12 year old friends. His friends are only about an inch shorter than me, and his 13 year old friends are taller than me. He looks a lot younger than the rest of them. It's tough on him. I'm not comfortable letting him do things as early as I want to, just because he looks so much younger. He looks like his friends did when they were 10. I try not to hold him back, but since he looks so little I don't want him to be a target if someone wants trouble. A boy my size won't be a target as much as a boy who is a head shorter than me.

 

If he was as big as his friends are now and the public transportation wasn't though slums, I'd say he could do it now at 12.

[Another Lynn]

I'm not sure even *I* should take public transportation here and I'm a bit older than 17, lol. 

[Alessandra]

I didn't answer, because it is different for each child. Ds 14 (and very tall, grown up looking) takes bus from suburbs into New York City, travels around NYC on the subway. He did not want me to go with him the first time, just did it. But most kids in his class (9th grade) are a year or two from solo travel. However ds's friends in NYC think it is weird for kids NOT to use subway, beginning in middle school.

 

Dd, same age, on the other hand, would be terrified of public transportation on her own. So we are a long, long way from traveling on public transportation.

 

I am super cautious about biking because of all the crazy drivers talking on cell phones.

[marbel]

Yeah, it really depends.

 

I know kids who live in Philadelphia who take the bus/train at 9 or 10 to school and such.  We live in the suburbs and my kids have never taken the bus alone, but that's mainly because there is no bus that's the least bit convenient for us to take us any place we want to go.

 

In my ideal world, I would think 9 or 10.  I don't recall when I first rode a city bus alone. Now that I'm thinking about it, I tend to use public transit more when I am traveling than in my own city/town.   

 

Sorry not to be able to use the poll! 

 

[Ivey]

Our kids only use public transit when they want to go into the city (we live in the burbs), so for us it's more about where they're going than how they get there. With a friend or two, I'm okay with my boys taking the bus downtown at age 12-13. If we lived in a city where they could take the bus or the subway to their piano lessons, I'd probably allow it around age 10. 

[Farrar]

I agree that cultural expectations and the location make a huge difference. I'm guessing that the majority of American kids of people on this board don't routinely ride public transit in the first place or even live places where public transit is a major option, which means that there's sort of an additional need for practice first.

 

We live within close walking distance of a subway stop. It's within my boys' range of allowed places. We take it routinely to go places so my kids have familiarity. Last summer, ds began taking the subway alone to get to his day camp, which was on one of our lines and also very close to the stop on the other end. He was nine. It caused quite a huge ruckus at his camp where I had to write a special letter saying that he was allowed to sign himself in and out. He really enjoyed doing it though. He was very proud of himself. I was much more worried about busybodies than anything really bad happening. I figured the worst things that could possibly happen would involve taking the wrong train or missing his stop, both of which would have been pretty easy to fix.

 

Kids starting around age 10 or so do take public transit alone really routinely here. All public school students in middle and high school are issued a free transit card that allows them to ride the bus (not the subway though) during daytime hours for free.

[EmilyGF]

Is your answer different from when you'd let a child ride a bike somewhere alone for transportation? By how much?

[Truscifi]

11-12 here, same age I feel comfortable with Brotherman starting to ride his bike to places nearby. Our public transport is not great in terms of where it goes and when but is generally safe.

[Tanaqui]

I voted "11 or 12", but that's assuming a really solo trip, like to school or to the library or something. If the trip involves a grown-up putting them on the bus at the start and then another grown-up picking them up at the end - especially if their stop is the last stop - then I'd bump it down another category or two.

[Farrar]

I think public transit is safer than bikes and that the skill level is much lower. Any tween, IMO, can learn the skills to ride the bus in a couple of lessons so it's really just if you trust them and the world, not so much about built up skills, but if a kid doesn't have a ton of practice on the bike going a distance then that can take longer to learn. I guess it's also just different places to me. I feel very nervous about my kids biking places more than a short, short distance. You have to ride in the road and obey traffic signals and be large enough to be really visible. If we lived out in the country or in a quiet suburb, I think I'd feel differently. But if that were true, then public transit would be much less of an option.

[JennyD]

However ds's friends in NYC think it is weird for kids NOT to use subway, beginning in middle school.

 

 

 

 

Just agreeing with this.  There is very little public transportation around here.  We used to live in NYC, though, and it was very typical for kids to start riding the subway alone in middle school.  

 

ETA:  I am *way* more comfortable with solo bus or subway trips than I am with bike riding.  

 

[SeaConquest]

I grew up in LA. We are not known for our public transportation. Nevertheless, I don't feel that it's unsafe for children. Assuming a large metro area system, I would say 10ish.

[kewb]

It depends. My kids are suburban kids so 16/17 is when I would feel comfortable. If they were city kids who grew up using mass transit probably 11/12.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Geographic location and availability is everything. Here it would be 17+, maybe later.

[Amira]

My kids were riding Metro without me at age 12 in Washington DC. They walked 5 kilometers round-trip on their own at ages 10 and 12 in Bishkek. I would have let them take public transportation, but the bus lines didn't really save much time and walking was simpler for the places we needed to go even though there generally is plenty of public transportation in Bishkek. I don't let them take it in Guadalajara at all. I would allow them to take the subway in Mexico City now at 13 and 15 if they were together. I'd let them ride around age 10 in many European cities.

[Ravin]

Here the public transit is mediocre. DD rides to/from school several days a week. She started going to the library on her own occasionally at 10. I'd have let her sooner, but she lacked confidence in her own capability.

[Farrar]

 Daytime only.

 

Oh yes. Daytime only.

 

I'm currently kicking myself because ds added another activity and I thought, oh, it's walking distance so it's okay because I don't have to be involved at all. Except it's after dark so I realized that was all wrong.

 

How old to walk around alone at night in the city? I don't know, but not quite yet...

[myfunnybunch]

The issue here isn't the bus itself, so much as it is the downtown area. To get to the activities they'd be riding the bus to right now (choir, for example), my boys would have to walk through a fairly deserted and poorly lit area after dark.

 

Hypothetically, in the daytime to ride to the downtown library or somewhere safe near the bus station, I would let my 11-12 y.o. go in a group. He's got a good head on his shoulders. But the other parents in our neighborhood would not allow their children to do so, and I don't think I'd send him alone yet.

 

Alone, 13-14 years old. I'd send my 13 y.o. and my 11 y.o. together. They've ridden the bus with me several times. But they say they're too nervous to go on their own, and I'm fine following their lead.

 

Cat

[regentrude]

Is your answer different from when you'd let a child ride a bike somewhere alone for transportation? By how much?

 

Yes, my answer would be different, depending on where I lived.

Riding a bike for transportation, i.e. i traffic, requires physical coordination, a knowledge of traffic laws, and judgment of traffic situations in a different way than required for a pedestrian. Crossing a busy street at a cross light to reach a bus stop is different from riding a bike in traffic.

Back home, all kids undergo mandatory bikers ed in school in 4th grade, take a police proctored practical exam, and are issued a bike license. they may then ride on the street. I would not feel comfortable letting a child younger than 10 ride a bike for transportation,i.e. on streets, because children this young have difficulties judging distances and speed of cars. OTOH, it may be perfectly safe for them to reach a transit stop and use the street car. Conversely, I can also envision situations where it is safer to ride a bike in a low traffic town, but where public transit is best avoided because of unsavory passengers.

There are even traffic situations where I would allow my teen to drive a car but not to ride a bike.

 

So, one does not have much to do with the other.

 

[Loowit]

Is your answer different from when you'd let a child ride a bike somewhere alone for transportation? By how much?

I would let me DD ride a bike around town, to certain locations, at her current age because I trust her to know the rules of the road and I only allow known "safer" locations.  I don't like our public transportation because it has a very high percentage of registered SO and that is not something I am comfortable with.  The buses around here, we have no subways or other public transport, are not on routes that are all that helpful either.

 

If we lived in the city where I went to college I would be much more comfortable with my tweens/teens using public transport.  Public transportation is how DH and I got around the city since neither of us had a car at the time.  It was reliable and convenient and I would deem it within my comfort zone at least during the day for my children.

[Tsuga]

I put 9 - 10. I am pretty sure I could get CPS called on me for under 9. People might not call about a child at a nearby park, but anywhere far enough that you need to take a bus to get there--the bus driver probably would not let them on. S/he would be responsible and would want to ensure that he wasn't doing anything that s/he could get in trouble for. I wouldn't want to put anyone else in that position, where as a mandated reporter or something they'd really have to question whether this was a child that "got loose" and has bad judgment, or whether it was an intentional thing.

 

It's not that I don't think kids are capable, but I have to be mindful of the attitudes of the society in which I live. Ideally I'd like to see my kids going out at 7 in groups. Certainly they can ride their bikes around the neighborhood at 5 - 7. My kids will go to the park alone at 7 and 9. (It's nearby.)

 

 Bishkek is a nice city and I would let my kids walk to the store alone, same for many cities in Europe. Not even because they are safer--they aren't safer than where we live, than our neighborhood--but because I wouldn't be putting other adults in a position of questioning what to do.Guadalajara is another story, LOL!

[bettyandbob]

I haven't read, but it would depend on how many stops, whether switching trains or bus was involved.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Our public transport is pretty limited.  I'd be more concerned about my kid walking alone through certain parts of the city than necessarily sitting on the bus.  But that's the problem.  It would involve walking through crappy city parts.  I myself avoid doing that alone. 

 

 

[Laura Corin]

I was taking two public buses to school across a large city at age 11.  My boys have taken public buses from about that age too (countryside).

 

L

[catz]

I think it depends on many factors.  What city/country/area you are in.  The age and maturity of your child.  The SIZE of your child.  The time of day.  The route and transfer situation.  I have a son that just turned 14.  He will be learning to use buses/transit this year and has learned a little over the past year, although he hasn't had good occasion to use it.  He is a small kid for age (he's like 90 lbs now), and even now that he's like 5'3", no one guesses he's 14.  I have a friend putting her tiny 11 going on 12 year old onto a public bus every week to go to classes, but only during day light hours.  City bus use during the day here isn't uncommon for kids probably in the 5th grade plus range for school use either. 

 

6 months ago I wouldn't of dreamed of putting my daughter on a city bus (turned 10 over the summer), but something has really clicked in her in terms of maturity and confidence the last 6 months.  So I'd reconsider it, especially if she were going with her brother.  I've not wanted to put him in a situation of being in "charge" of her - she's pretty head strong, so it would need to be more of a peer situation.  She's actually quite a bit taller than my friend's going on 12 year old I mentioned above.  Both my kids have phones too, which makes a difference to me.

[QueenCat]

No public transportation here....

[Dmmetler]

Where I live now, probably not ever, unless the child qualified for paratransit, which is door to door.

 

In the city I went to grad school at, there weren't school buses for anyone Kindergarten and above unless they had special needs such that they couldn't ride wheelchair accessible city transit, so you regularly saw kids getting off at a different stop in the afternoon for after school care, on Wednesday for Girl scouts, or at the dance studio. They had adults who were riding in the peak times to help the youngest kids, but by the time they were in middle elementary, they were definitely on their own.  It was both the nicest public transit system I've ever had anywhere we've lived, and the least chaotic school bus system.

 

 

 

 

[Farrar]

I'm struggling with this one. Mainly due to my own anxiety, I guess.

 

I keep thinking maybe for ds for this activity. It's three blocks, well lit. But then I just go... nope. Not yet. I did notice that the other kids at this activity, who are mostly 13 or 14 yo, did seem to be walking home alone, so maybe in a couple of years... I hate that it's dark at 5:30. :(

[Tanaqui]

I keep thinking maybe for ds for this activity. It's three blocks, well lit. But then I just go... nope. Not yet. I did notice that the other kids at this activity, who are mostly 13 or 14 yo, did seem to be walking home alone, so maybe in a couple of years... I hate that it's dark at 5:30. :(

 

Are you worried about traffic or crime or...?

 

[Farrar]

Are you worried about traffic or crime or...?

 

Crime. I don't worry about it much, but our neighborhood is very high crime. There are lots of muggings and - and this is much scarier - there are routinely waves of completely random violence where people are beaten for fun. Two years ago, I witnessed one such beating in front of our house. They didn't take anything. They knocked out a neighbor's tooth and bloodied his face then ran off when I came outside. I think a 10 yo is not likely to end up on the other end of that, but still...

[Amira]

I mostly pay attention to what other kids are doing since we never stay in one place for very long. I never see kids on the sidewalks or riding buses on their own here so I don't let my kids do it even though I don't feel like our area is very dangerous. Kids are all over the place in Bishkek, and teens on Metro in DC are normal too since there are so many tourists there so it was easy for me to let them loose there. If I lived someplace longer I think I could get a better vibe for what was safe, but without that, I watch what others do.

 

And there are different types of public transport. I think subways are way easier to navigate than buses, and that big buses are easier than minibuses.

[Tanaqui]

No, that totally makes sense, and it's not something that can be handled with reflective patches or with you meeting him after he's walked all he can without crossing a street, that sort of thing. I'm really sorry to hear that.

[Tanaqui]

Ds was 14 when he was on a plane by himself for the first time--the other kids were older.

 

LOL, and to me a plane ride counts as "semi-unaccompanied", not a real solo trip, even if you don't pay for the unaccompanied minor ticket. They're dropped off at one end and picked up at the other, and if there are no transfers there isn't even, like on the bus, a chance of them getting off at the wrong stop. If they had anywhere to go, I'd be glad to let them take a plane alone at, like, seven or so, long before I really felt they could ride the bus alone.

[LucyStoner]

Since I'm so unfamiliar with public transportation I said 15-17. The only people I know who use it outside of NYC are people who can't afford cars in cities and unfortunately live in the bad parts of town. To me, public transportation means you're going through slums.

 

 

Thankfully, that is not the case here. There are buses criss crossing my city and plenty of people choose to commute that way rather than fight traffic themselves. Short of those who can afford a personal driver, there are truly all income demographics represented on our bus system. You'll find both Microsoft cafeteria workers and top project managers on the bus rolling towards one of their campuses.

 

When I was 10 I rode the bus here. Under 9 I rode with my older brother. The city bus is also the defacto school transportation option for all kids grade 6 and up here. So about age 11-12. I wouldn't really think my 11 year old son is up to it yet but he has autism and navigation troubles. My NT 12 year old neice could definitely ride the bus.

 

Day or night is a factor though and definitely neighborhood.

[LucyStoner]

Ok, I wanna hear from the person who voted 5-6.

 

Most 5 year olds still need help finding the "restroom" sign.

[Luanne]

There are a lot of creeps on the public busses around here.  I voted 13-14.  That is when my daughter was finally big enough that someone would have had a more difficult time just carrying her off.  Even then, it would only be with a group of others and not alone.  I don't know that I would ride the public busses around here alone.

[Farrar]

Ok, I wanna hear from the person who voted 5-6.

 

Most 5 year olds still need help finding the "restroom" sign.

 

Maybe they live in Japan, where it is apparently common for kids that age to ride the subway alone.

[bettyandbob]

Ok, I wanna hear from the person who voted 5-6.

 

Most 5 year olds still need help finding the "restroom" sign.

 

I didn't, but dh did. His mom put him on the public bus in Chicago outside their apartment when he was 5 or 6. He road it to the stop right in front of his dentist office. The bus driver did know dh was getting off there. Then dh went to the dentist on his own and caught the bus home again. Obviously it was a different time. This would have been when dh was in K in 1962-3 I think. That was his first time riding alone.

[chocolatechip]

Voted 15-17, but I would feel really uncomfortable riding public transportation here without male accompaniment. 

[Tap]

Context....I live in a largish city, and the bus stop is about half a mile out of our neighborhood, and on a busy street.  

 

With that in mind, Ds started riding the bus solo about age 15/16.  I would have been fine with him riding to swim practice alone at 14yo, but when i talked to a bus driver, they discouraged it.  Not due to my sons maturity, but due to problem behaviors of some other riders in that particular area of town.  

 

 

You do not see younger children alone on buses in our area.  I would say middle school age, 12/13 is the youngest I have seen alone. 

 

 

[Arcadia]

The public transport is relatively good where I am. I have a light rail transit behind my home and a bus stop nearby. My kids could take the light rail train and change bus to get to their outside classes easily.

Still I only see high school kids on public transport without parents. Sometimes I see a group of siblings/cousins with a few in the group looking like 17+.

We have encountered panhandlers on the public buses here and the driver ask them to leave the bus or stop asking other passengers for money.

 

Back home it's normal to see kids from kindergarten onwards taking public buses to school without parents. School buses are uncommon and private enterprise. Public bus drivers are used to buses filled with school kids from 6:30am to 7:30am, and from 1pm onwards.

Cars are hyper expensive and people don't drive to work. Kids just get street smart early due to necessity. A female classmate who stay on a farm has her guard dog walk her to the bus stop, stay with her until she gets on the bus, and then gets itself home (her home was in a farming community, all neighbors are farmers).

[73349]

I could see letting DS ride at 12, especially with a friend--for one thing, he has pretty good odds of being taller than I am by then--but I didn't vote because that's too far off to be sure of. Right now (almost 7) I'm sure the bus driver would not let him on unaccompanied.

 

I feel that the buses here are safe, but we don't use them that much because they don't go a lot of places or at a lot of times.