R & D Bus Company

This is the WORST bus company and I’m petitioning my son’s school to discontinue utilizing their service. 2 hours late today, due to a substitute driver and rain. The regular driver is just as late, so I don’t feel this excuse is acceptable anymore. We are at the end of the school year and this company STILL hasn’t gotten it right.
Extremely rude people answering the phones, so not only are your drivers unprofessional. So are your customer service representatives. What a waste!

Should yellow school buses be in alleys after midnight? Should they perform hit-​and-​runs while there? Probably not!
BOOM! That was the sound of an R&D Bus hitting our fence and running over neighbors’ trash cans from the alley at 12:40AM. It was a hit-​and-​run, and the driver fled. Fortunately, there was a witness, the yellow paint on our fence and damaged school bus made the culprit obvious, and the driver was stopped by police a couple of blocks away.
Despite sending all supporting documents 5 months ago and consistent communication from our end, R&D has yet to take responsibility for their actions. They wish to avoid going through insurance, yet have given us a run-​around.
This company is obviously disreputable, and should be avoided at all costs. 1 star is 1 star too many. If you see an R&D school bus coming towards you, your property, and especially your kids, be very afraid!

Aside from showing up late virtually every day, changing our route without any notifications, requiring our kids to sit next to each other for no apparent reason, installing new drivers unfamiliar w the route, having vehicles break down at slightest sign of inclement weather, and their home office spinning a roulette wheel estimating times which are almost always wrong, this company is otherwise good.

All I know is that the driver literally runs the stop sign at Wellington and Mozart in Avondale EVERY day. This is completely unacceptable on so many levels. This company needs to train its drivers.

Bus was scheduled to pick up my child from home at 7:30am this morning, of course we are out at that time waiting for the bus and it’s running late. It’s Chicago, 0 degrees out, 7:50 and nothing yet, decided to call the company, took 5 min for the representative to tell me that the bus was on route and should be at my location in a few minutes. We continued waiting, it’s then 8:15 and no sign of the bus yet. Child and I were freezing waiting for this bus for such a long time and it still didn’t show up by the time I called it quits (8:20am). My kid is supposed to be at school at 8 am. If the school was closer to us I would’ve just walked and gotten there on time. It’s ridiculous how they can never be on time but if you ever run even 2 min. late to meet the bus, they won’t hesitate to leave. I don’t recommend anyone to use this company if you are in need of a reliable bus company and time is of importance. Their customer service is not of much help either. Save yourself the headache. CPS really needs to give their business to a different bus company. This company is CRAP.

Remember that scene in Dirty Harry when the moron with the busted nose hijacks the school bus and forces the lady bus driver to shut up and drive? Then he tells the kids to sing row row row your boat…
That’s my worst nightmare and with R & D, its not a question of if but when… R & D Bus you give me the Dirty Harry creeps!

If I could give zero stars, I would. I am a student who takes this bus everyday. Once we had a substitute driver who didn’t know where she was going! Some other students had to guide her all the way to school with their phones’ GPS. I feel unsafe in the hands of an adult who doesn’t know what she’s doing. I dread going to the bus stop in the mornings because I have been very late to school many times, missing my first period of class and important information. Even after parents have complained, the poor bus service continues. This bus company is hurting my ability to learn. CPS – Please change to a better bus service ASAP for the sake of us kids!

If I could give them 0 stars, I would. The driver of bus 561 regularly cuts in front of traffic waiting to get on the on ramp at Ogden at the Kennedy. This driver turns left from the CENTER lane in front of traffic waiting to get on the Kennedy. It is dangerous and puts passengers and other traffic in harms way.

Very Rude Driver of bus 475 picks up a an aide from McNair School between 6:30 and 6:45 am an if the aide does not come directly out of the school. The Driver will or has blown their horn in bom, bom bom sequences for at least 10 minutes or more until the aide appears. Not very happy about being woken out of my sleep this morning and all of the other mornings. McNair school is on the North side of Walton
and RESIDENTIAL Homes and Apartments on the South Side of Walton Street. Use a cell phone and call your aide. STOP waking up residents, PLEASE

I used R&D for the first time recently. I found the customer service representative courteous and helpful. Our bus driver, Shirley, was on time, professional, and efficient. Everyone in my group agreed that we were very pleased with our experience. I would definitely use R&D again.

I have never used this company. But I do want to report that I have watched as a bus driver from this company speed in a 20 mile per hour zone, blow a stop sign and drive with excessive speed in a slow zone (a grocery store parking lot). Also the driver drove over the curb while making a left hand turn. The bus almost hit me as I was standing at the stop sign. After seeing this, I said to myself… this driver shouldnt be driving any people anywhere in a bus or a car or even a go-​cart.

This review is regarding the customer service, not the bus drivers. I called recently about reserving a bus for a classroom field trip, and the woman I spoke to was condescending and not helpful at all. After speaking to the museum that recommended this bus company, I find it fair to give this bus company one star. My colleague and I were told that this bus company would help us, but instead I was given misinformation by the representative for the bus company. Luckily, there are plenty of other bus companies to work with in the city.