The Valley Metro buses have signs about a “new policy” that was invoked on July 24, 2006. I would see it and forget about it after I got to work, but today it stayed with me. The policy says that children under the age of seven must be accompanied by a responsible person, able to supervise and control the child. I’m paraphrasing because I didn’t write it down while on the bus and when I went to Valley Metro’s site, looking for the language, I couldn’t find it. My question is why they need to issue such a policy? Do they have a lot of riders under the age of seven who are all alone? Or is this aimed at 10, 11, 12 year olds riding with small children and the older child is unable to control the younger child? Or is this for parents who don’t understand concepts like discipline and control? I’d really like to know what prompted this policy as I can’t imagine putting a 6 or 7 (or younger!) year old on the bus alone. I’d have deep reservations allowing a 10 year old to travel alone with their 3 or 4 year old sibling. I haven’t seen these things, but I only ride two bus routes. It’s a curiosity and I’m open to enlightenment.