ride the short bus

a day late and a dollar short

Too late and too feeble to achieve the desired effect.

a short drop and a sudden stop

A fall to one's death by hanging.

bus plunge

A phrase often used in filler story headlines in print newspapers, prior to the adoption of computer-aided typesetting and publishing methods, as it filled out the usual width of a column in the eight-column layout then prevalent in the industry.

caught short

unprepared or without enough of something when it is needed

down to the short strokes

In the final steps or decisive phase of an undertaking, especially one which has been lengthy or laborious.

draw the short straw

To be selected to do an undesirable task (by drawing the shortest straw or otherwise).

drive the porcelain bus

Synonym of worship the porcelain god (“to vomit into a toilet bowl, especially while drunk or hungover”).

face like the back end of a bus

A very ugly face.