12 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) –The Wichita City Council voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance that requires party buses to register through the City and obtain a license. Through that, they are required to adhere to a variety of rules.
“Over the last several years, we’ve had incidents involving a party bus,” Wichita Police Department Captain Travis Rakestraw said. “Now, the party bus people were not doing something per se wrong, but it’s the people that they have on there.”
The goal is to eliminate violence and issues that have occurred in the last few years involving party buses.
“We’ve seen incidents of violence that have occurred, and we see potential of more of that in the future, so we’re hoping that this will help curb some of that behavior,” Capt. Rakestraw said. “And if the party bus is doing something that we feel is not enough to control the behavior of their passengers, then we can step in and take action against their license.”
Some of those rules include requiring passengers 17 and under to be with someone who is 21 or older, no use of alcohol from 2:30-7:00 a.m., and no use of alcohol after midnight if there is a minor on board.
Spots Party Bus and Party Express Bus both say they do not allow alcohol on board if there are any passengers under 21, and that’s something they have done for years.
“If we find we know we have minors on the bus, and the driver sees smells or knows there’s alcohol, then the party is over, no refunds,” operations manager at Spots Party Bus, Kurtis Haynes, said.
At Party Express Bus, they don’t let people drive continuously.
“For the last 15 plus years, the only time we allow alcohol on the bus is everybody’s 21 with a valid IV, and in order to police that for our company, we require them to go bar hopping,” Owner Phil Alexander said.
Also, Spot’s bus drivers are required to be back at the bus barn by 3 a.m., and at Party Express Bus, operations stop at 2 a.m.
Haynes says he had no idea these problems were happening because they weren’t involving his company.
“The City said, ‘Look, we can’t crack down on one or two or three companies. We have to make rules across the board, and then we can legally approach the subject,'” Haynes said. “We are never trying to be the entire event. We like to transport people to different places so they can have a safe drive.”
They will still need to make small changes, such as printing out and posting the rules on the bus.
Alexander says party buses provide safe transportation.
“I have mixed emotions about it,” Alexander said. “And I think I think it will be overall good as long as we can. We can police it the way that I hope it is policed.”
The consequence depends on the severity of the offense.
“There are a lot of remedies at our disposal,” Capt. Rakestraw said. “We can come in and provide them some new rules that they have to abide by. We can suspend their license, we can revoke their license, so it depends on what the event is.”