FOXBORO - Officials say a new regional bus service at Foxborough Regional Charter School has improved morning and afternoon traffic on Central Street.

School Director Mark Logan and Police Chief Edward O'Leary credited the bus service with helping to ease commuter traffic outside the school at 131 Central St.

"My staff reported that a more substantial use of the remote pickup sites reduced the traffic congestion," O'Leary said Friday. "They are making progress in the right direction and I am optimistic that their continued focus on it will alleviate the traffic issue."

In past years, Logan said, most families had little choice but to drive their children to and from the school, and to do so within a narrow time frame.

That contributed to frequent traffic jams on Central Street (Route 140). Logan said providing regional bus service has taken at least 150 private vehicles off Route 140, during the morning and afternoon crunch times.

"This isn't to say there may not be delays in the future, given the weather, accidents or breakdowns or whatever factor, but we've taken a giant step forward," Logan said.

Logan said one teacher reported that in past years it typically took her 10 to 15 minutes to creep from the Shell-Dunkin Donuts on Commercial Street to the school entrance - a distance of about a quarter-mile.

The teacher covered that distance in about three minutes late last week.

Logan said the school last year implemented a free, before-school care program to spread out the times parents would arrive with their children.

"By implementing this regional bus program, and utilizing a staggered dismissal schedule, we've been able to significantly reduce the number of vehicles entering and exiting, and we also significantly reduce the wait time and backups on Route 140," Logan said.

Now in its 11th year, the kindergarten-through-grade-12 charter school serves 1,100 students, from 22 town and cities.

As in the past, Foxboro public schools provides three buses for the 150 charter school students who live in town.

Last year, two school buses, privately funded by school families, were not nearly enough to transport students from 21 other communities, Logan said.

A five-year, $3.2 million federal grant has enabled the school to expand academic programs and start the regional bus system. The school signed a three-year contract with Vendetti Motors Inc. of Franklin, which purchased seven new, full-sized school buses, each now bearing the school's name, Logan said.

All the buses are now running full, and families are putting their children on a waiting list to ride a bus, he said.