AVTA BACKS EXTRA BUSES FOR SCHOOL ROUTES : PUPIL INCREASE MAKING SEATS SCARCE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

If 68 teen-agers are waiting after school for a bus ride, and a 40-passenger bus shows up, what happens?

Some get seats, some stand, some wait, some walk.

``You got one (afternoon) bus, and the kids are standing and sitting on laps, and five to 10 are left behind because it's too crowded,'' said parent Susan Griffin, whose 15-year-old daughter got left behind twice in the first week of classes at Lancaster High School.

Antelope Valley Transit Authority officials are recommending adding a second supplemental bus in the morning and afternoon to serve students who attend Antelope Valley, Highland and Lancaster high schools.

``We're leaving kids behind. The need to do more service is pretty critical,'' said Bill Budlong, executive director for the transit authority, the governmental body in charge of bus service for the Antelope Valley.

The three-member AVTA board will discuss the recommendation to add buses at its meeting at 10 a.m. Monday at the agency's office, 1031 W. Ave. L-12.

The problem is most severe at Lancaster High, the Antelope Valley Union High School District's newest campus, which has doubled in size this year to about 1,500 students in the freshmen and sophomore classes. Last year it had only freshmen.

Last year, the combined daily ridership on the morning and afternoon runs was 79. This year, afternoon riders alone total 68, Budlong said. The bus is designed to hold 40 passengers.

Budlong said there have been increases in student population at Antelope Valley and Highland high schools as well.

Buses will be shifted from other routes to serve Antelope Valley and Highland, and a bus will be taken out of the reserve fleet for Lancaster. Running that extra bus will cost $8,200 a year, but the agency expects to recoup all of that through students' fares.

With the supplemental buses added, the wait between buses at the three high schools would be about 10 to 15 minutes, Budlong said.

Griffin, who lives three miles from Lancaster High, said her daughter now has switched to another bus route. She catches a bus at Avenue J and 30th Street West, gets off near 30th Street West and Avenue L, and then has a 20-minute one-mile walk to home.