Holiday Express cleans buses daily to keep students safe

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - Students have been taking the bus to school for several months during the Coronavirus pandemic, and Holiday Express in Grand Island has been blasting the interiors non-stop with disinfectant to keep everyone safe.

Holiday Express buses take about 12 to 14 small and 25 large bus routes every day, transporting students to and from school.

“We disinfect the buses after every single route," Holiday Express Operations Manager Brock Brown said. "When they come back from their routes, they’ll stop at the gate. We’ll get on, and one of our office personnel will get on, and walk the bus to make sure there’s no items left on the bus.”

Holiday Express staff starts from the back and works their way up as they disinfect the seats. They use a spray gun filled with a powerful solution to help kill bacteria. Bus drivers are responsible for cleaning their own areas, and they also have to wipe down windows once a week.

“It’s been going pretty well obviously, we’ve had a couple cases where we had to quarantine drivers because they’ve had close contacts with people that have been diagnosed with COVID-19, but for the most part it’s been going well with everything that we’re going through.”

At the beginning of the school year, the guns were on back order and the bus company had to use Lysol, but they said ever since they’ve received them, sanitizing has become more effective. The gun eliminates virus droplets within 3 to 4 minutes of contact.

“The spray that comes out of the gun, it floats in the air and it attaches itself to the virus particles, and not just COVID-19, it attaches itself to the flu and other viruses that are out there.”

Holiday Express provides transportation for Blue Hill, Hastings St. Cecilia, Northwest Public Schools, Grand Island Central Catholic, and Grand Island Public Schools.

“We’ve had no known spread, so that’s a good indicator," GIPS Chief Financial Officer Virgil Harden said. "We developed protocols that we would use in the building, so we’ve got those for the buses also. I think it’s gone almost surprisingly well.”

GIPS has added an aid to every bus route. They also require bus drivers to use a seating chart, and students to sit one to a seat.

Holiday Express hired 15 to 20 aids at the beginning of the school year, and they still need a few more. They also have had to double routes since GIPS limited the amount of students on the buses.

“Basically we pick-up half the kids that we used to pick-up, and go drop them off, and then the drivers go back and pick-up the second group of kids," Brown said. "It’s lengthened the routes a little bit, but I think overall it’s working pretty well, and keeping everyone safe on the bus.”