I wasn't sure what "riding a short bus the length of a bicycle" first meant either, here's what Executionus who used the phrase answered when I asked him:
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Originally Posted by Executionus
That was a multi-level dark humor slur that isn't considered politically correct, based on an old stereotype. I used to engage in funny-insult contests with people, so I can think those up on the fly with ease.
In schools, children with development issues such as down syndrome or other forms of retardation are segregated apart from the neurotypical kids. They even get their own school buses, which are far smaller than the main buses. As a result, saying that somebody is "riding the short bus" became an indirect way of saying they were "retarded". The joke I made in the story then took that common saying to the exaggerated extremes by saying that Emma wasn't just on the normal short bus, she was on a super duper extra short bus. The implication being that she was even more retarded than people with actual retardation.
The diss was in extremely poor taste and is the type of thing that could totally get someone cancelled, but it was absolutely in character for teenagers from a small town to use that type of insult without care.
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