KCTV 5Drivers train for Bus on Shoulder Operations

When traffic stands still, the only drivers that will be able to get around it will be a few JOCO bus drivers. That's because the Johnson County Transit will begin a new program known as Bus on Shoulder Operations.

"What Bus on Shoulder is going to allow us to do is, right now, we might have a bus that gets stuck in traffic and it's 15 minutes late downtown. Bus on Shoulder will either help us be on time or maybe just be five minutes late," Shawn Strate with the Johnson County Transit Authority said.

Beginning Jan. 3, 2012 if traffic has slowed down to 35 miles per hour, JO Express bus drivers will be able to drive the shoulder during morning and evening rush hours for about a seven mile stretch of Interstate-35 from 95th Street to Lamar Street.

"The other part of it is wanting to move more people on the highway without having to build extra lanes which is frankly too costly to do right now," said Strate.

Bus drivers practiced Thursday and will continue training for about a week. It's new to Johnson County but Strate, a transit planner, said other cities including Minneapolis and Chicago have used the Bus on Shoulder method for years.

But don't mistake what Jo Express bus drivers are doing as a get-out-of-traffic-free card. Kansas Highway Patrol said car drivers will still be ticketed if they try to follow and drive on the shoulder.

Kansas Department of Transportation has teamed up with JOCO Transit to make improvements to the shoulders, keeping them swept and free of debris and also removing guard rails that are too close to shoulders.

For more on the program, click here. 

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